


Biotic Wolves

by BlueStarPaladin, MsBluebell



Series: Space Moms Write Klance [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Biotics, Captivity, Childhood Friends, City States, Creepy Zarkon, Cyberpunk, Dayak Is A Badass, F/F, F/M, For Science!, Fugitives, Greek and Roman History, Human Experimentation, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Has Abandonment Issues, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Keith (Voltron) Has Panic Attacks, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Krolia and Ms. Shirogane tried, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Lance and Keith Grew Up In A Lab And It Sucked, Literary References & Allusions, Lotor Has 99 Problems And Zarkon Is All Of Them, M/M, Mad Science, Parents As People, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Science Experiments, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro Hates His Life, Sven Is A Ray Of Sunshine And We Don't Deserve Him, There Are Two Slavs And It Is Awesome, Zarkon (Voltron) Being an Asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2019-08-26 15:30:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 138,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16684252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueStarPaladin/pseuds/BlueStarPaladin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBluebell/pseuds/MsBluebell
Summary: Twelve years after they escaped the labs, Lance and Keith are still trying to find each other. A task easier said than done, when they also have to remain in hiding an keep from being found and dragged back into the hell that was Haggar's Science Facility.Still, the secrets in their skin couldn't have been hidden forever, not in this city, where eyes are everywhere. All it takes is one mistake.





	1. Shockwave

The world you're about to explore is strikingly different from your own, and yet it's similar in a sense that it was built upon the foundation of the world you find yourself in. Yes, this story takes place in your far future, one you may not live long enough to see.

Cultures have changed. Social norms have shifted. What people view as right and wrong has changed as well, and yet many essential things from your society remained. There is still a government, as well as police that are tasked to keep order and peace on the streets. Theft and burglary didn’t vanish. It merely changed.

Your future is run by a government; a big brother that watches over your every move. It is mandatory for all citizens to have an ID chip integrated within their bodies, serving as their ID cards. This way everyone is easily identified by the cameras that are placed all around, all of your information on display with just a simple click of a button for the ones watching to see. Although there are many perks to this as well, such as easy access to communication devices and payments.

Smartphones are ancient technology, long replaced by sophisticated holograms that allow the two callers to see each other while conversing, as if they were there in person. Laptops are nowhere to be found, but unlike smartphones, they were upgraded and developed along with time.

Flying cars are a reality now, as well as all the other gadgets you could only dream of. Card games finally became amusing now that actual monsters emerge when the card is placed down, expanding and changing the gaming industry forever. Same applies to the media sector as well. Yes, traditional journalism is dead, just like you all thought it would be. No printable paper was in sight, only holoscreen newspapers that the citizens could use for other purposes as well.

The future of your world is full of possibilities, and even though they are within your reach, you’re not allowed to take advantage of them. Big brother is watching you. He’s everywhere.

 

* * *

 

\- **October 23, 2254** -

_“Happ…. Bi…. You…”_

_“Bir-to…. You…”_

_A young boy lay in bed, slowly coming back to consciousness as he listened to faint noises around him. His eyes were heavy, refusing to open even though he willed them to. He felt himself acknowledge his tired body once again, the feeling of his tired legs and hands returning. He let out a sound, letting the other occupants know that he was awake but unwilling to move just yet._

_That’s when he felt a pillow hit his head._

_His eyes opened, shooting to sit up before turning to spot two familiar faces beside him. A boy with brown hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes looked down at him with a wide smile, seated beside him while trying to nudge him awake. “Wake up sleepy head! It’s your birthday!”_

_He felt his long black locks fall onto his face, pushing them back up. The tanned boy noticed, leaning forward to fix his hair for him, and when he was done, he let himself fall against the other, the bright smile still on his face. “Keith! Wake up! You have to wake up for your birthday dummy!”_

_“I-It is?” Keith, the sleepy boy with long black hair and pale skin asked, blinking as it donned on him that it really was his birthday. He knew because behind the tanned boy was another figure of an older man, kneeled down beside them with a smile on his face._

_“Happy birthday Keith.” The man congratulated, “You’re turning six today. It’s no small feat.”_

_“Yeah! It’s your special day! Get up!” The tanned boy happily nudged him again, but this time Keith returned fire, letting himself fall against the other. Now they both ended up on the bed, laughing happily before hugging. “This will be the best birthday you’ll ever have!” The boy told, blue eyes meeting Keith’s own. “I have a special gift for you this time.”_

_Keith quirked a brow, curious at the mention of the gift, “What is it?”_

_“Lance.” The man, Sam Holt, called, reminding the child that gifts were suppose to be kept secret until opened. “If Keith finds out what his gift is, then he won’t be as surprised when he gets it.  Do you want to give it to him now?”_

_“Yep!” Lance beamed, seating himself on the edge of Keith’s bed while Keith sat in place, curiously watching as Sam handed over a small box to Lance. Tanned hands handled it carefully, as if it was the most precious item he’d ever held. He raised it up, extending his hands over to Keith and waiting for him to accept it. “This is from me.”_

_A gift?” A smile quickly made its way onto Keith’s face, accepting the gift, “Thank you Lance.”_

_“You’re welcome.” The other child’s smile widened, watching anxiously as Keith began opening the box. Violet eyes widened as soon as he spotted the necklace inside, taking it out to let it rest on his hand._

_“It’s a necklace.” Keith noted while Lance leaned closer to touch the said item._

_“The necklace can sing.” Lance opened the small charm, letting a soft tune roll out of it. Keith stared at it in awe, cherishing the melody that came out. “From now on it’s our song.” The tanned boy said, prompting Keith to tilt his head to look at him._

_“We didn’t make it.” Keith noted while Lance slowly shook his head._

_“But I like it. That should be enough, right?” The blue eyes child turned Sam who nodded with a smile._

_“That’ll be more than enough.” Sam assured, watching as the two listened to the soft tune of the charm. The two children, Lance and Keith, were special. He couldn’t even begin to explain how unique they were, different from anyone else within this facility._

_The room they found themselves in was bare, resembling a prison cell more than anything else. It was made to accomodate the children specifically, but unlike a normal child’s room these were equipped with heavy cameras that would watch their every move._

_Subject 003 and Subject 004. Those were their real names, or better yet what the rest of the researchers within this facility decided to call them. They weren’t human, at least not in their eyes they weren’t._

_“Keith you need to brush your hair. It’s a mess.” Lance frowned, moving his hands to touch the black hair of the other that went up to his shoulders. “If you don’t take care of it, it’ll eat you.”_

_“No it won’t.” Keith frowned in response, although he did hesitate. His eyes lowered in thought before he reached under his pillow, taking out a small brush that was there, “Brush it. That way it won’t eat me.”_

_Lance smiled, eagerly taking the small brush before running it through Keith’s hair, “My magic will defeat the giant monster. Don’t worry Keith, I’ll protect you.”_

_“Thanks.” The pale boy smiled, letting the melody from his new present play. He was so enchanted by the music that he didn’t notice Sam reach out into his pocket, taking out another small box._

_“Oh my… Lance I think Keith forgot to give you a little something.” He looked over at the black haired boy, winking at him, “You get a present for his birthday as well.”_

_Keith was confused but Lance perked up, looking over at Sam, “Really? I get a present too? What is it?” He leaned forward eagerly, leaning is hand against Keith’s shoulder as he took the small box n hand. He opened it quickly, revealing the same necklace that Keith had. “It’s Keith’s present.” He looked at it in confusion, “There are two of them.”_

_“They’re matching.” Sam gently took the necklace, placing it around Lance’s neck so that both of the boys were wearing a necklace each. “Now you’ll have the melody to remind you of each other wherever you go. Even if you’re apart, you’ll always be together.”_

_But even though Sam wanted to assure the two children, their smiles turned into frowns. “But I’ll always be with Keith.” Lance said._

_“And I’ll always be with Lance.” Keith added as well, looking up at the only adult in the room. Their eyes were filled with confusion, worry and uncertainty, yet Sam didn’t have the heart to tell them why he’d given them these necklaces, or what he hoped to achieve by giving them the two presents._

_Keith and Lance were special children, which meant that their future was bound to be filled with misfortunes and those that wished them harm. There will undoubtedly be people who would want to harm them, Sam knew that there would._

_He didn’t answer them, and even though he wanted to comfort them he didn’t have it in him to lie. If all went according to plan then tomorrow will be the day that these children are finally freed of the confines of this prison. Free of daily experiments and torture that have been integrated into their everyday lives to the point that it had become a norm for them. It pained Sam to see that because no child deserved such fate._

_Lance and Keith deserved better, and he would give them that which everyone else denied them. Freedom, as well as the choice to go and do whatever they wanted. He would need to work on teaching them the basics of how the outside world worked, but with how bright the two were he was sure that they would learn quickly._

_Born within a laboratory and living within a laboratory. These children knew of nothing but artificial lights, bars, chains and needles. It wasn’t a world they deserved, not a world anyone deserved._

_“Take care of your presents.” Sam placed each hand on the two boys’ heads, “This time nobody will take them.”_

_Lance and Keith stared up at the older man, trying to understand what he was saying. That is before Lance spoke up, “Keith gave this to me. I’ll treasure it.” He turned to the other, reaching out to take Keith’s hand, “I’ll think of you whenever I open it.”_

_Keith smiled, closing his charm before looking at it, “I’ll treasure it too and I’ll keep it safe.”_

_“I know you will silly.” Lance chuckled, “It’s a promise.” He held out his pinky finger, waiting for Keith to take it with his own. It was an oath that Sam taught them, and they learned to attribute it as something that they must absolutely do._

_Without hesitation, Keith reached out, taking Lance’s pinky before locking their fingers together, “Promise.” He promised, the two boys smiling while Sam sat on the edge of the bed they were on. He tried to smile, but even if he did it was filled with sorrow and fear of what was to come._

That sorrowful smile will always be engraved into Keith’s memory, as well as Lance’s own pinky against his. He listened to the melody of the charm as it played in the background, memory slowly vanishing as he woke up to a loud alarm next to him.

He slammed his hand against the clock, knocking it off his bedside table as it fell onto the ground. The alarm ceased, leaving the melody of his charm the only sound that could be heard in the room once again.

“Ugh.” Keith rubbed his face, whipping his eyes as he forced himself up, throwing back blankets and standing from his bed. Bare feet slapped against the wooden floor as he made his way out of the room in a daze. The door creaked as he pushed it open, the loud sound of metal rubbing against metal altering probably everyone in their townhouse apartment to his waking. The melody in his locket was dying down now, the music spinning to a stop, a rewinding needed once he regained some coherence.

He stopped by the bathroom first, emptying his bladder and washing his hands before splashing his face. He whipped the crust from his eyes, letting a nights sweat and dirt from his face.

Another dream about that day…

Keith shook off his thoughts, deciding to save it for later, after breakfast at least. Decision made the pale noirette odded to himself and exited the bathroom, making his way downstairs as silently as possible.

Adam and Shiro were already in the kitchen when he got there. Shiro seated at the table, cup of coffee resting between his hands, steam rising gently from the cup. In front of him was a holoscreen, a news article displayed in front of his face. Adam was by the stove, his back turned as he prepared their breakfast. The three of them were too poor for breakfast most days, and it made him wonder what was so special about today that warranted Adam’s efforts.

“Morning.” Keith greeted as he made his way over to the coffee pot, the one thing they all agreed they needed to put money in. He grabbed a cup from the rack, settling it beneath the machine as he selected his personal setting for his cup and waited for it to brew and add his prefered amount of creme and sugar.  

“Good morning Keith.” Adam greeted from where he was making...oh gods that was bacon. What happened that Adam spent good money on _bacon_  of all things? And were those waffles?

“What’s the occasion?” Keith asked, moving to grab a plate of waffles, that meant he was well in range for Adam when the older man decided to ruffle his hair.

“Apparently there’s going to be a meeting between a district manager and the president’s son today.” Shiro spoke up, scrolling through the log on his holoscreen, “That means there’s going to be a lot more money thrown around the arena today, we’ll be able to earn around twice as much money.”

From where he was Shiro couldn’t see the scold on Adam’s face at the mention of the arena, but he was well within Keith’s sight. The young boy winced, knowing fully well that the man didn’t like the arena or the fact he and Shiro fought in it _at all_.

Violet eyes flickered between the two men, nervously jumping between them as he slunk away from the stove with the plate, making a quick stop to grab the syrup and his coffee before heading towards the small kitchen table. He settled next to his brother, plopping down his breakfast before uncapping the syrup and pouring a generous amount over his waffle.

“Not so much Keith.” Shiro muttered, not even bothering to look up from the news article.

“I need the energy.” Keith shot back, not stopping at all as he poured the syrup in every square of his waffle, and then over a bit. “If I’m going to the ring today then I’m going to need all the fuel I can get.”

Shiro didn’t even look up as he reached over and grabbed the bottle from Keith’s hands, snapping the lid closed and confiscating it before the younger boy could drown the waffle in it anymore. “You’re going to kill your body with all that sugar, we can’t afford diabetic vaccines.”

Keith scolded, crossing his arms and huffing as Shiro pushed the bottle away, he could reach for it, but the sheer disapproval his brother would emanate if he pulled the bottle towards him would be disastrous to his confidence. So he decided to cross his arms and glare instead, but the man just ignored him.

Adam walked up, plates in hand, and set himself down between them. Without another word he scrapped the extra bacon and eggs on his plate onto Keith’s own, staring the noirette down as he did, “I think you forgot your protein young man.”

“I was just waiting for you to finish.” Keith responded, grabbing his fork and immediately stabbed a piece of bacon and sliding it right into the pool of syrup gathered on his plate. He could _feel_  the small glare Adam sent, but he only shrugged as he raised his newly sweetened bacon for a bite, “You made the waffles.”

Adam huffed, shaking his head before scooting a cup of orange juice that Keith hadn’t noticed before forward, “Drink up, you’re going to need all your strength if you two are going to the arena today.”

“Fine.” Keith took the glass, knowing better than to fight. He sipped, drinking down the pulp filled liquid. Adam was right, he would be thanking the man later when he and Shiro were in the arena. The ring was tense and awful at the best of times, but it would probably be unbearable today. There would probably be twice as many fighters than normal, and all the best fighters would show up as well, meaning he was in for a day of hell.

But they needed the money, and the extra they would earn from all they hype and challenges would go a long way in this house.

Keith shifted, taking another bite of his food silently, a bit disheartened. Shiro waved away the holoscreen, smiling at the two of them before beginning to work at his own plate, “This looks delicious Adam.”

“I figured you two would need it today.” Adam sighed, poking at his own breakfast tentatively, “A little moral boost.”

“That’s sweet babe.” Shiro smiled, placing a kiss on Adam’s cheek before turning back to his breakfast. Keith wrinkled his nose, going back to his precious waffle, deciding it was far more interesting than his guardians.

His locket hung low from his neck, the metal clicking against the wooden surface softly. Keith frowned, reaching forward to tuck and snap the locket closed with a tiny click and tuck it safely beneath his shirt. With nothing else to really focus on and no excuses not to think about it, Keith’s mind turned back towards his dream, or rather, his memory.

Twelve years, it had been twelve years since that day, since he’d seen _Lance_.

His stomach churned at the thought. He owed everything to Uncle Sam for getting him out of the facility, but he couldn’t help the bitterness he felt when he thought of the next day, when he woke up alone and in an unfamiliar house, no Lance by his side and strangers next to his bed. Aki, Shiro’s now long deceased mother, hadn’t known anything about Lance and was forced to try and soothe the tiny child as he cried into a stuffed animal a younger Shiro had desperately shoved into his arms.

The pale boy winces thinking about that day. He knows he’d been difficult those first few weeks, desperate to escape and find Lance, uncaring as he threw around his new guardians and sent shockwave after shockwave after them, trying his best to crawl his way out of the basement they’d been forced to keep him in until he’d finally calmed down long enough for them to explain that he had to _hide_  or else he’d go back to the facility and then he’d _never_  see Lance again. And he’d cried for days, frustrated and angry and all matter of heartbroken because he and Lance were supposed to be together forever.

There was a hole in his chest from then on, one that had never been filled ever since, because he _knew_  that no one else would ever understand him the way Lance had. How could they? After everything they’d went through in the labs? None of the other kids there had survived, and even if they had they wouldn’t have been Lance, his best friend, the person that had given him his very name.

The locket was the most solid thing he had now, the cool metal against his skin a comfortable reminder of the lost boy, the melody that played inside his closest connection to someone lost to him, living proof that Lance had been real.

“Keith?” The said boy was snapped from his thoughts by Adam’s voice, looking up at the man and noting the concerned look on his face, “Are you okay? Are you sure you’ll be able to go to the ring today? If you’re not ready, you can always opt to stay home instead.”

“I’ll be fine.” Keith assured, taking a bite of his waffle. The sweetness of the syrup helped soothe his troubled mind, even if at least a little bit. “If there’s anyone that should stay it’s Shiro. I bet I’ll take down more opponents than you today. I’m beating your record _Champion_.”

Shiro hummed, although he did send a concerned look Adam’s way without the other noticing. The fighting arena was always a taboo subject, especially when Adam was present during the conversation. “It wouldn’t be a surprise. If you win, it’ll only be because of Adam’s cooking.”

Keith sent his brother a challenging look, a silent message passing between to two of them. He accepted the challenge and is willing to prove Shiro wrong. He’ll win, both due to his own skills and Adam’s cooking.

The brunette between them sighed, taking a bite out of the bacon that was on his plate, “Please stay safe the both of you. It’s all I’m asking for.”

“We will.” Shiro reached out to place his hand on top of Adam’s, “We have each other’s backs.” And it was true, earning a soft smile from Keith before his and Shiro’s eyes met. Even though they may be making a competition out of this at times, it was a coping mechanism they both settled on.

They were poor and money was hard to come by. Working part time jobs wouldn’t allow them to pay for their apartment, nor would it be enough to cover for their daily expenses. They saved up whenever they could, but there was an essential jamming device that they needed to restock on monthly. This specific jamming device was expensive, and easily cost them most of their income.

They would live without it if they could, but that wasn’t an option. Not if Keith didn’t want to have the government finding him and chasing him down all over the city. Violet eyes looked down at the jamming device, embodied within his skin but not completely in place where his ID was nestled. It was on his wrist, hidden by black fingerless gloves. Ever since he escaped the facility he grew used to wearing them.

Keith was almost done with his plate, sighing contently before standing up and taking his plate over to the sink. He turned, heading back up the stairs to get ready.

“Did you pack all of your gear?” Adam asked from his spot next to Shiro, “Make sure you don’t forget the knee protectors this time. I don’t want you coming back home with bloody knees.”

The noirette huffed and made his way up the stairs, “I will.”

Adam, the worried mother of the family he was, called out to him once again, “And don’t forget the salve. You’ll need it for after the battle is over.” He finished his breakfast, standing up from his seat, “Want me to come upstairs and help you pack?”

“I’m fine mom.” Keith called out, “I’ll be down in a bit.” He entered his room, closing the door behind him in relief. He loved Adam to death but sometimes he could be a little too worried. Not that he didn’t have the right to be, the ring was a ruthless place where participants fought for a piece of bread they would be able to eat the next day.

The world didn’t favour the poor, it never did. If you were poor, you were treated like dirt. It was as simple as that.

Shaking the thoughts away, Keith focused on getting his gear ready. He walked up to his bag, throwing it on the bed before gathering his essentials for the fight. Head mask, upper body gear, lower body gear, shoulder protectors, knee protectors, boots, and then his knives. Kneeling down beside his bed, he reached under to take a small box that was hidden there, opening it to reveal his collection of knives.

They weren’t just any knives however, no, they were deadly, sharpened enough to pierce the skin upon mere contact. Eyeing them all with a critical eye, Keith decided to take the knife he’d had since childhood.

Along with the locket, there was another mysterious item he apparently had with him when he found himself with Shiro and Aki in the basement. It was a clean dagger, as sharp as any knife or sword he’d ever seen. It was tainted purple in colour with the handle wrapped up in a bandage like cloth.

It was an item he didn’t remember having and now after twelve years passed, he still didn’t understand where it came from. His only guess was that it was an item given to him by Uncle Sam, one he could use if he needed to protect himself. That was most likely the case, and Keith believed in his guess.

He decided to take that mysterious knife, placing it into a holder that he attached onto his back. Safely tucked away, Keith decided to close the box, focusing on finishing packing. Once he was done, he donned the now heavy bag onto his shoulder, walking out of his room and down the stairs where Shiro and Adam were already waiting for him. Being a morning person, Shiro had his back already packed, ready to go.

As soon as Adam spotted him on the staircase, he turned to face him, “Did you get everything you need?”

“Yeah. I got everything.” Keith assured, patting his bag with a smile on his face, “I’m ready.”

“Did you make sure to pack the knee protect-”

“I got them.” Keith unzipped his bag and took out the said item to show it, “Ready to go.”

“Alright.” Shiro turned to Adam while Keith put on his shoes, sticking out his tongue and tilting his head away when he noticed Shiro placing a peck on Adam’s lips. “We’ll call you as soon as the event is over. Maybe we’ll be able to have steak for dinner today if we’re lucky.”

“I don’t need steak. I need you both back safe and sound.” Adam took a step towards Keith, ruffling the boy’s hair, “Be careful Keith. Today’s battles will be especially challenging. I’ll be watching you both on the holoscreen and I’ll come running if anything happens.”

And Keith was sure that Adam would do that. No foe in the ring could stand up to the man, and rather than fearing the opponents he was about to face, Keith was more terrified of coming back to an angry Adam. When Adam was mad, he meant it, and Keith didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his fury. “We’ll be fine.” He assured the man again.

“We’ll be late for the bus if we don’t hurry.” Shiro noted, looking at the watch on his skin, “There’s already traffic on the road. We can’t be late.” He nudged Keith forward, opening the door of their little apartment, “See you later Adam.”

“Good luck! And come back in one piece!” The brunette called after them, watching as they both walked down towards the bus stop. Their neighbourhood wasn’t anything special, especially when compared to the city centre which was buzzing with people and modern technologies.

The rich had it all, and the city centre in the distance was proof of it. Keith could already see the massive arena in the distance, shining brightly in neon lights and advertisements that were placed on the sides.

But before he could get there, he needed to get out of his district. The pavement on the road his apartment was in had cracks, showing how little the manager of their district cared for the maintenance of the roads, or anything else for that matter..

As they made their way to the bus stop, Keith spotted two hoverbikes passing them by. He watched as they passed in awe, focusing his attention on the red hoverbike. It was beautiful… Someday he’ll be able to get one of those. Someday…

“Focus Keith.” Shiro elbowed him, drawing his attention back to the task at hand. The older man, while typically serious and focused, wasn’t normally this fixated. Keith shifted a bit, adjusting the bag on his shoulder as he flickered his eyes back over the city, the neon lights and dozens of holoscreens illuminating the towers in the distance.

The bus pulled up, red lights of the hoverpads overtaking the glass road, the large vehicle coming to an easy stop beside them. They climbed on, shuffling up the stairs, heavy bags weighing them down. It was typically crowded on the bus, but today there wasn’t a seat to be spared, and everyone stood shoulder to shoulder. He and Shiro were forced to wedge themselves into a corner, backed between the buses wall and the crowd, bags still heavy over their shoulders.

Those hoverbikes were looking more and more beautiful right now.

The ride to the arena was unbearably long, or at least felt that way. It also figured that when they got there nearly the entire bus emptied, filing out like someone poked a hole in a bag of water. Keith scoffed, following his brother as the larger man tugged his arm, leading through the masses and toward the back doors where the volunteer arena fighters entered. The two guards flanking that door greeted them, nodded in recognition, allowing them to pass without much fuss.

The hallways in this part of the building were _much_  emptier than nearly everywhere else in the arena. Most of the other contestants were either already in the lockers getting ready or hadn’t arrived yet. Shiro, as the champion of the arena, was given the privilege of his own private locker room that he graciously shared with Keith. It was a bit nicer than the other locker rooms, with locks on the doors and water packets already set out for them.

Keith didn’t bother with the water yet, deciding saving them for later would be better. He dropped his bag, zipping it open and pulling out his gear, carefully sorting everything and inspecting the makeshift armour. Satisfied, he slipped on the gear, carefully strapping everything down and testing it before humming in approval. He grabbed his knives, slipping them into their holders, the weight of them more comfortable than any of the gear could ever feel.

The younger brother turned to face the older, studying Shiro’s armour donned form with a stone face. The older man was hyper focused now, doing breathing exercises on the bench, his white tuft of hair hanging over his face. The arena was a bad place for him, and Keith hated that they had to be here. Shiro shouldn’t have had to be forced here, fighting in this awful place that took his arm and scared his body, and Keith couldn’t help the wave of guilt that washed over him because he knew that _he_ was the reason they needed to be here. It was the only reason Adam tolerated the two of them being anywhere _near_  the ring, because they had no other options once he was in the picture.

“Shiro.” Keith placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Keith, just getting ready for the day.” Shiro turned to face him, an uneasy smile on his face, “Once today is over we’ll have some extra money for once. Imagine what we could do with that; good food, being ahead on our bills, money towards a car.”

Shiro was going to buy dinner tonight and then shove the rest of the money in the bank for a “rainy day” and they both knew that. The man was just trying to make Keith feel better about the battles to come, something he always did before a match. Still, even if Keith was more than aware of what his brother was doing he still appreciated it.

“Yeah.” Keith smiled, squeezing Shiro’s shoulder, “You ready to go? Gotta let the registrators know we’re here.”

“Yeah.” Shiro nodded, standing up, “I’m ready.”

 

* * *

 

_The bare room was cold, it’s walls and floors ice cold as two children lay on the single bed that was inside. Metal doors were closed shut, the peephole slid closed with no sounds coming from outside the corridors._

_However, no matter how cold their surroundings were, Lance would always remember it for the warmness of his best friend next to him, bundled together in bed and covered by one of their blankets. The two were hidden under from prying eyes, reading a book that Uncle Sam gave them during his last visit._

_“W-What about the dragon? Did it eat them?” A young Lance asked, anxiously waiting for Keith to continue reading. The pale boy shook his head, holding the book in his hand while Lance leaned against his side, both looking up at the pages in front of them._

_“The dragon isn’t that bad. I bet it wants to be their friend.” Keith huffed, turning the page and just anxious as Lance in finding out how the story will end. It had been a fantasy fairytale, one depicting a tale of a brave knight, a princess and a dragon. The story wasn’t original, but it was one of the books Sam had managed to sneak inside and into their cell._

_“It took the princess.” Lance frowned, “I bet it’ll eat her.” He moved his hand to flip the page, surprising Keith who tried to stop him._

_“No cheating. We have to read all of the pages. We promised Uncle Sam we would.” Hearing Keith’s words, Lance stopped with a frown._

_“But I want to know.” His eyes met the other, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, “I know you want to know too. Let’s find out what happens. Then we can come back to this page.”_

_Keith was hesitant, contemplating whether they should do that or not. “Pleaseee?” Lance asked, leaning closer with a whine. “We have to know, or else we won’t know how to defeat the monster in your hair. Look! It’s about to eat you!”_

_“Waaa!” Keith yelped, jumping up in bed with his hands flying over to his hair. He pat it, checking if it really did come to life. Noticing that it wasn’t, he sighed in relief, “T-That’s no funny!”_

_“We have to know.” Lance teased, flipping the page. Their eyes roamed over the images rather than reading the text, noting how the hero was riding on a horse, going to save the princess that was taken captive in a castle. Then came the final battle and… “The dragon and the hero became friends.”_

_“I told you the dragon wasn’t bad.” Keith frowned, “He didn’t eat the princess.”_

_Lance stared at the page in surprise before turning to Keith, “D-Does that mean the monster in your hair won’t eat you? Will you become friends?”_

_“I hope so.” Keith smiled, running a hand through his black hair. “He won’t eat me.”_

_“I don’t want him to eat you.” Lance threw himself at the other, hugging him tightly, “I don’t want you to leave me.”_

_“I won’t.” The other child promised, returning the hug, “We’re the bestest of friends.”_

_“We are!” Lance looked up, smiling and showing some of his missing teeth. The child didn’t care though, proud to have teeth to give to the tooth fairy. “We’ll be friends just like the dragon and hero.”_

_Keith picked up the book again, looking at the picture, “But the dragon is my hair. You can’t be the dragon.”_

_Lance tilted his head to the side in thought, eyed landing on the princess, “Then we’ll be like the princess and the hero. They’re also friends.”_

_“Okay.” Keith agreed, yawning before settling the book back down, “Sleepy.”_

_“Me too.” The tanned boy agreed and the both of them let themselves relax onto the bed, laying down next to each other with only the blankets and pillows as protecting from the cold outside. They remained close, for both warmth and comfort as well. “One day we’ll get to see the sky and the grass.” Lance hummed, “I bet they look nice.”_

_“I bet the sky is red.” Keith hummed back._

_“Nope! It’s blue.” Lance snuggled closer while Keith frowned._

_“Red.” The noirette said._

_“Blue.” And Lance returned._

_“We’ll see.” Keith smiled, eyes slowly closing. Lance followed his example, and soon, they both fond themselves sleeping within the blankets._

_The memory didn’t fade there though as Lance remembered the distinct sound of heavy metal doors opening, creaking as it fully opened and revealing three figures behind it. The younger him snapped his eyes open, looking down at Keith who wasn’t disturbed in his sleep._

_“Take Subject 003.” A female voice spoke, dark and emotionless in her tone. Her words made Lance shiver, and before they could get to their bed, he quickly pulled himself from under the covers, doing his best not to wake Keith up._

_“I-I’m here.” He said, standing up from the bed as his bare feet met with the cold floor below. He was scared as the woman in a white robe stared down at him, two men in armour coming up to him as one of them grabbed onto his small arm and pulled. Lance flinched at the harshness of the touch, feeling himself being pulled away and out of the room._

_He spared one more look towards the bed, Keith still sleeping as the door closed, leaving him alone in the empty room._

The locket rested comfortably around his neck as he looked out at the window and onto the city streets around him. But even though his eyes were looking out, he didn’t really take anything in, finding himself drawn deep into his memories.

“Lance.” A voice called beside him but didn’t succeed in getting his attention.

A girl with long blond hair sat next to him, blinking confusingly as she watched him stare out the window. She leaned closer, poking his shoulder, “Lance? Hello?” She poked some more, finally getting him out of his thoughts.

The now older Lance turned, blinking at the girl beside him, “Y-Yeah?” What is it Romelle?”

“Were you dozing off? Right before Allura has this super important meeting?” She folded her arms, looking at him teasingly, “I can see just how excited you are to finally see the ring for the first time.”

“Hey! I’m excited!” The brunette defended, folding his own arms and shrugging, “I was… reminiscing.” He felt the locket against his chest, well hidden under his shirt. It’s weight was comforting, especially now that he was out of the house and heading to the event of the month, “Anyway, I still don’t get why they’re making a big deal out of Allura coming to the matches.”

“Well of course it is!” An older man with orange hair and a moustache to match replied from the front seat, happily looking back at the both of them, “As a district manager, Allura is a high ranked individual! Not to mention that she is contributing to the prize the winner of today’s matches will receive! It’s no surprise the crowd will be excited.”

Lance frowned in the back, “I think they’re more excited to see Allura than anything else.” As far as district managers went, Allura was known for her beauty and leadership qualities. Many even claim that her district was the best district of all, becoming an area where most of the citizens wanted to live. Compared to the rest of the districts, Allura’s had more flora within it, letting the greenery flourish alongside modern technologies.

“It’s not all about me.” Allura noted from beside Coran, tilting her head to the side to face them, “Lotor is the main reason for today’s commotion. His presence in the arena will undoubtedly draw attention, no matter who he is with.” She had long white hair that was pulled up into a ponytail, her robotic legs resting comfortably as she turned to look out the window in front of them. “Besides, while I have my meeting, you’ll be able to explore the arena.”

“Just what I want.” Lance grinned, “Finally I’ll be able to stretch my legs and see what the ring is all about. Watching it on a holoscreen is completely different from seeing the real thing.”

“It is.” Coran agreed, “The sheer determination and will of the fighters cannot be felt anywhere else but within the arena. I was so touched the last time I was here that I already placed my bets!”

“Oh! Really!?” Romelle leaned closer to him from her seat, “Who?”

“Well the Champion of course! For he is undefeated!” Coran stroked his moustache confidently, “I’m about to win us a fair sum of cash from my bets.”

“Obviously he’s going to win.” Lance and Romelle both rolled their eyes, “So many people bet on him that you won’t get anything.”

“How rude!” The older man focused on the road again, “I won’t share my prize with any of you!”

“Not like we need it.” Lance looked out the window again, noting that they were getting closer and closer. “So you’ll drop me ad Romelle at the back?”

“Yes.” Allura nodded, “It’d be best to stay out of Lotor’s radar. I suspect he may have devices that negate the effects of the jamming device you have.” She turned in her seat, facing the brunette fully, “But even if Lotor is with me, his generals will likely roam the arena as extra security. Be wary of them.”

“Pfft! Of course, who do you think I am? Lancey Lance has this covered.” A smug smile appeared on Lance’s face, earning a scold from Romelle.

“Says the one who accidentally made the headlights go haywire the last time we went out.”

“T-That was an accident.” Lance defended, “It wasn’t my fault.”

“We’re nearing the drop off point.” Allura noted as they neared the colosseum shaped like structure. Coran made sure to stop the car at a discreet location, making sure nobody was out before Romelle and Lance got out of the car. They closed the door behind them, Allura pulling down her window, “Be careful. Coran and I will be nearby if you need us, but you still need to be careful within the crowd. The fans can get… carried away sometimes.”

“Nothing to worry about. I’ll even take care of Romelle while I’m at it.” Lance assured while the said girl leaned against his side.

“I can take care of myself. You’re the one that needs protecting around here.” That earned her a roll of the eyes from Lance.

“Very well.” Allura smiled, although the worry was still there. “Be careful but enjoy the fight while you’re there. Call Coran if anything happens and-”

“We’ll be fine. Don’t you have a meeting to attend to?” The brunette reminded, making Allura sigh. She gave him one more look of concern before her and Coran took off, heading to the main entrance to meet Lotor and the press that was there.

Finally free, Lance grabbed Romelle’s hand and pulled her along, leading his companion towards a different entrance. There were a lot of people around, easily thousands flooding the giant colosseum, all eager to watch the battles that would ring out today. The two of them giggled, finding a spot in line, their VIP passes firmly inchiped within their bracelet’s coding. The holoregistered dinged when they brushed their coding bracelets over it, turning green and giving them the number of their booth.

Allura had reserved them a VIP booth just above the ring, settled perfectly so they had space, privacy, and a perfect view of the fights. Right now Lance and Romelle weren’t shooting for the booth though, it would still be there later, no, they wanted to explore for now.

The hallways were flooded with people. There were sales booths lining the walls, merchants desperately trying to sell food or merchandise to eager fans. Alcohol was being sold by the keg, gross foods Lance had never even heard of exchanging hands as people brushed their coding bracelets over the registers. There were all different kinds of cheering instruments; from glow sticks to thunder-sticks to giant pop bottles that shot streamers.

Lance was in awe. He hadn’t felt this kind of pure wonder in a long time. Just the pure number of people alone was enough to be mind boggling, almost unbelievable, it felt almost like the entire world had fit itself inside the colosseum to watch the gladiators fight today. It was amazing. The smell of deep fried foods, the dull roar of peoples voices, the neon lights shining all around them. Yes, the whole world must be here right now.

Keith could be here right now for all he knew.

The tanned boy stopped, feeling his heart race at the thought. Blue eyes flickered over the crowd, a part of him knowing how dumb it was to expect to find the mulleted boy, but the thought had been there and Lance couldn’t stop himself searching.

He deflated a bit when he couldn’t spot anyone with the haircut he vaguely remembered Keith having. It was stupid to hope that the other boy would just turn up in a busy crowd after twelve years, but it was hard not to hope when just _so many_  people were here. Still, he could imagine Keith was here, searching the crowds for him as well, ready to watch the fights, probably with a corn dog because anything that needed to be stabbed with a sharp stick was probably something Keith would love to eat.

His lips twitched upwards at that, his mood lifting a bit as he imagined his mulleted friend trying to figure out corndogs. He bets Keith only ate them with ketchup, the heathen, probably didn’t even touch mustard.

“Lance! Let’s get a hotdog!” Romelle called, making her way over towards a booth.

“Coming.” Lance followed after her, trying not to lose his friend in the crowd.

 

* * *

 

Reporters and photographers took out their cameras as soon as Allura’s car came into view, snapping pictures left and right as her car pulled in and then came to a stop at the entrance. Coran got out of the car first while another man opened the door for her, Allura coming out in all her glory.

Her white hair shone within the flashes of the photographs, her skin spotless as she took a step forward with her mechanical legs, walking down the carpet in a high heel version of her legs, a gap between her dress made deliberately to showcase her legs.

The district major smiled as she walked towards the entrance, waving around at the lively crowd of both paparazzi and common people who wanted to see her. Coran was by her side as she finally entered the VIP area, an employee informing her that Lotor was already waiting for her in the booth due to the commotion outside.

Their mere presence alone would attract attention so she didn’t blame the president’s son for waiting in the booth at all. She thanked the employees before they led her to her designated booth, and as the door opened, her eyes landed on Lotor right away.

It was hard to miss him with both of his arms and legs replaced by high tech limbs. Mechanical limbs were incredibly expensive and thus they became a fashion accessory of the rich. It would be hard to imagine that people would willingly cut parts of themselves to replace them with machinery, but in their world it was seen as both convenient and fashionable.

The high tech they had at their disposal gave them opportunities those in the past didn’t have, allowing them to feel their new limbs as part of themselves rather than something that was hard to control. Artificial limbs felt exactly the same as their own flesh and bone ones, with the exception of added gadgets such as speed boost, longer durability, heightened strength as well as functions such as the phone, an embodied holoscreen, light, and the list goes on and on.

Lotor took the opportunity to replace both of his arms and legs in a show of his high status while Allura replaced both of her legs. She thought she would regret it at first, but after having done it and after living with it for years now, she knew it was one of the best choices she made for herself.

“Allura, it’s wonderful to see you.” Lotor’s face lit up as soon as he spotted the district manager at the door, standing up from his seat before walking over to her, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles in a greeting gesture, “As majestic as ever I see. Your beauty knows no bounds.”

“Such words won’t work on me Lotor, you know that.” She smiled, giving him a knowing look, “I am, however, happy to see you. It’s been a while since the last time we’ve seen each other. I believe it’s been… a month?”

“That would be right.” Lotor moved to the side and motioned Allura towards the table, “Please, we have a lot to discuss but most importantly we’re here to enjoy ourselves.” He pushed out a chair, waiting for Allura to sit down before pushing it towards the table again.

Allura smiled in gratitude, noting the presence of the president’s close aide. He went by the name Sendak and was in close relations with president Zarkon himself. Him being here could mean many things, such as the president’s own control over his own son. Allura was wise however to know better, fully aware that the relationship between Lotor and his father wasn’t as simple.

Both Zarkon and Lotor wish for the same thing, yet the methods they use to achieve their goals are different and it is that which created this animosity between them.

As Allura looked over at Sendak, the man bowed politely, “Minister Allura, a pleasure.” He greeted politely, receiving a nod from Allura in response.

“The pleasure is all mine.” She turned to Lotor while Coran took a seat beside her. A part of her expected one of Zarkon’s men to accompany Lotor on this occasion but she never would have thought that someone of such high rank would be that person.

The situation was dangerous but everything would be alright as long as everything goes as planned. She would be here with Lotor, while Lance and Romelle would enjoy the show in their own booth, undisturbed and away from the public. No harm could come to them, especially since they were out of both Lotor and Sendak’s sight. Then again, the generals may prove to be the most troublesome danger of them all.

“So, I take it that your district is doing well?” Lotor asked, busying himself opening a bottle of white vine, “I hear nothing but praise when it comes to Sector 06. I’d go as far as saying that it is the most beautiful sector we have.”

“Your praise is flattering Lotor, thank you.” Allura offered her glass while Lotor poured her some of the vine, “I’m happy to say that we’ve managed to reduce the carbon emissions in the air by 50%, a goal we’ve been meaning to achieve by the end of the month. Although pollution from other sectors is hindering our efforts and further causing us problems.” She noted while Lotor hummed, pouring himself a glass as well.

“Then I’ll need to have a word with the neighbouring sector’s manager. I know how annoying it can be when all of your efforts are wasted like this. I attempted the same deed and yet I find myself held back by others around me. I’ll help you in your efforts and put in a word of my own.” The president’s son raised up his glass with a smile, “I would like to thank you for accepting my humble invitation to today’s meeting. I know you may not be a fan of the arena, but I know there are some particular fighters that may impress you today.”

Allura raised up her glass as well, clinking it with Lotor’s own, “Your choice of setting is rather unusual but I welcome the change of scenery.” She tilted her head to the side, looking out the vast window of their booth. From where she was, she could see the tight security that was positioned all around, as well as all of the ring where the fighters would be fighting soon.

Her blue eyes roamed the crowds as well, noting just how busy it was out there. She had a view of the other booths as well, looking at one she knew was Lance and Romelle’s assigned booth. They weren’t there which made her uneasy but it was still no reason to panic. They must be doing some exploring before going to their booth. It sounded like something the two of them would do, especially since it was Lance’s first time in the arena.

“It may be rude of me to ask, but I’m simply too curious not to.” Lotor placed his glass on the table, leaning back against his chair as he looked out the window, “Did you place any bets? Predictions? I’d be curious to know.”

“Nothing of the sort.” Allura dismissed the idea, “Coran, however, did place a bet.”

“I sure did.” The elder man in the room nodded, “On none other than the Champion. He’s undefeated in the ring and I believe that will be the case at least until the end of the season.”

“Oho…” Lotor’s smile widened, “Amusing, although I must say that the champion is a formidable foe. In fact, I would be willing to spar with him to see if he really is deserving of his reputation.”

Allura quirked a brow at that, “Being confident isn’t a weakness, but being overconfident may lead to a loss.”

“I’m aware.” Lotor noted, “I’ve been watching the Champion for a while now, as you know, I’m a big fan of the arena. I’ve seen many fighters rise and fall over the years and yet the champion has peaked my interest. I’m simply curious.”

“Very well.” Allura nodded, looking out and watching as a few drones flew over the arena, readying it for the fights that were about to commence, “Are there any other fighters I should be on the lookout for?”

“There are quite a few.” Lotor hummed, eyes roaming the crowds in search of his generals. He immediately managed to spot Acxa and Ezor on the left and right sides of the arena. Then Zethrid and Narti who were covering the rest of the area. Their security was as tight as ever, mandatory as the president’s son is one of the spectators.

As Allura and Lotor conversed, Sendak stood on the edge of the room, listening to the conversation but also looking out the window. Rumours had reached Zarkon that his son had began organising a coup to overthrow him, and he was her to make sure that Allura of Sector 06 wasn’t one of his supposed allies.

The two seemed in good terms but so far there was no indication that they may be working together. So far it is only a rumour, but should anything be said, Sendak will know about it.

While Allura listened to Lotor, she kept her eyes open on Lance and Romelle’s stand, sighing in relief once she spotted them enter. They sat inside happily with a bunch of food in hand. She raised a brow with just how much food the two managed to get, placing it in the middle before stuffing their faces.

“Oh. My. God! Romelle! You have to try this! I’ve _never_  had pizza this good before!” Lance picked up a slice, offering it to the girl who eagerly accepted. She bit into it, her eyes immediately lighting up in delight.

“Oh. My. God!” She moaned happily, eagerly taking another bite.

“I know right! Quiznak! How is the food so good here?” With the food laid out on the table, Lance eagerly eyes the corndog he managed to get in one of the stands, putting ketchup on it before biting. He practically melted at the taste.

“What sorcery is this!?” Romelle was just as stunned, stuffing herself.

“Who cares? As long as it tasted good, it’s fine with me.” The tanned boy munched on his corndog happily while Romelle finished her pizza, taking out a leaflet she managed to grab from one of the men earlier.

“Hha-list-of-paa”

“What? Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Lance snatched the paper from her, eyes looking down at the list. “These are all the fighters? Wow! There’s like… a hundred of them here!”

Finally swallowing, Romelle snatched the paper back, holding it in her hand with a grin, “Ehem… It’s fifty and yes! They’re all the fighters that registered for today’s matches. The Champion is here of course and then there are other favourites we should be looking out for.” She was no expert so she looked down at the paper and the names on it, “Who’s Thunderstorm Darkness? Looks like he’s quite popular, right after the Champion.”

“Thunderstorm Darkness? Pfft! What kind of a name is that?” Lance asked with a quirked brow, “And he’s the second best?”

“Looks like it.” Romelle waved the leaflet up in the air, “According to the ranks.”

“Huh… With a name like that it’s a surprise he’s ranked in second.” The brunette settled into his chair comfortably, deciding to munch on some popcorn next, “I hope his fighting is better than his naming sense.”

“At least he’s not in danger of becoming a pig. If you eat all this you’ll throw up.” Romelle teased, snatching a small donut they managed to find from a bag.

“Me!? You’ve already eaten _way_  more than I did! You heathren!” Nobody could take away his joy from eating his fair share of food, nobody.

“Hah! Are you calling me fat? How rude!” Romelle bit back, and before Lance could reply, they both snapped their heads forward, watching as the host of today’s fights appeared, hovering above the colosseum in his chair.

“Greetings everybody! I hope you’re all ready because we’re about to rumble! My name is Bob and I’ll be your host today!” Bob announced, holding his microphone in hand while the crowd cheered, “Before we begin I would like to welcome the president’s own son! Lotor Galra! As well as the ever beautiful Allura Alteanis! The manager of Sector 06!”

The crowd cheered louder now, all facing Allura and Lotor’s booth excitedly.

“Verpid Sa!”

“Verpid Sa!”

They chanted, only calming when Bob spoke again, “That’s the spirit! I don’t know if you’ve all placed bets on today’s fights but we’re about to get sommmeeee intense battles today!”

“Ugh… I hate that cheer.” Lance rumbled while Romelle shushed him.

“Shhh! I wanna hear what he has to say!” She watched anxiously while Lance rolled his eyes. Although he was just excited because this definitely felt a whole different than watching through a holoscreen.

“We’ll be having a total of fifty fighters today folks! It’s a new record sine-” Bob’s voice was loud and some parts of it could certainly be heard back in the changing rooms. As soon the participants heard his voice, they knew that the time for them to get out and fight neared. It was especially stressful for Shiro and Keith who both readied themselves, holding their masks in hand as they stood side by side, mentally preparing themselves for the fight.

“Keith do you have the jammer?” Shiro asked worriedly, looking over his little brother, “Lotor will be watching. We can’t afford any slip ups this time around.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Keith raised his hand, pulling up his glove just enough to show off the chip before sliding it back on, safe and out of sight. Shiro nodded, taking a last moment to roll his shoulders and crack his neck before squaring himself and marching out the room. Keith followed, pulling his red bandana up to cover the bottom half of his face, obscuring his features somewhat so people couldn’t immediately recognize him.

The fighters all filed out into the hallway, falling into line as they pushed through the doors that lead to the arena. Immediately the crowds started cheering, their cries roaring through the stadiums, bright lights trained on them. Holocreens shined everywhere, giving people in the upper seats a better look at the fighters as they lined up across the middle of the arena.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnndddddddd here they are!” The annoying fuck announcer, Bob, called in that over annoying voice. Keith could see man now, seated on a floating chair, descending from the top of the announcers station and waving dramatically as he hovered over the fighters, “And what a treat we have today! I see new faces, I see old faces! And how rare it is to see all of our top ten fighters at once!”

Keith felt an inch in his skin as the man floated over him. He could feel them, the matter all around him, it was acting up. He bit his lip, his skin suddenly itching. He didn’t normally lose control like this. What was going on? Why now?

He squeezed his fist shut, willing the biotics beneath his skin to calm down. He side-eyed his brother, willing the older man to look his way. He nudged him a tiny bit, trying to draw his attention, “Shiro?”

“What’s wrong? Nervous?” Shiro didn’t turn to face him as he spoke, knowing better than to draw attention that way and cause Bob to latch onto that and create a fake narrative of rivalry, or worse, a fake family conflict.

“No.” Keith muttered, “But…”

“Oh! And here he is! Our Champion!” Bob cut in, flying over to face them as the crowd let out an overwhelming roar of approval. Bob got into Shiro’s face with that massive smirk, “And how are you today Champion? Are you excited for the challenges?”

“There are a lot of worthy opponents here and I wish the best for all of them.” Shiro gave the well practiced answers, a small and pleasant, very fake, smile on his face. It was the same answer he always gave before a challenge. Bob was always silently huffy about it, wanting something a little more, so it was only a matter of time before…

“Oh! And the little brother is here as well! Hello Thunder!” Bob turned his attention on Keith now, his grin still on full force. Keith couldn’t help but be silently smug that Bob absolutely _refused_  to ever say the full title he’d picked.

“Hi Bob.” He deadpanned, arms crossed, ready to do this.

“It’s a special day today, and we have some very special guests! Do you think today is the day someone will finally dethrone big brother?” Bob smirked.

“No.” Keith shrugged.

Bob laughed, flying away, “Isn’t he a riot? Now, let's get this show on the road and set the challenges for today!”

The holoscreens popped up, names spinning rapidly across them. The names came to a rolling stop, setting the first round of challenges, seemingly randomly selected. The first round would be two people Keith had never heard of, then it was Shiro versus another newcomer, and Keith was third up. He didn’t care to look after that, deciding he’d worry about the other matches as they came.

The crowd roared as the challengers left the arena, leaving only the two whose names were called first behind. Keith and Shiro both decided to settle into a protective booth set up in a pit for the challengers, left so they could watch and size up potential opponents. Shiro liked to sit here if he wasn’t too damaged by a fight, studying the fighting styles he may end up fighting.

 

* * *

 

Hunk swallowed nervously as he carried his cart down the hall. Luckily almost everyone was seated now that the first fight had started, but that didn’t meant the halls were as empty as he’d hoped. It made his stomach turn nervously, anxiety building up beneath his skin with every set of eyes that he passed.

Why had he let Pidge talk him into this? He was going to get arrested. How in his right mind had he agreed to her insane plan? Shoot, he was doomed. He was going to get caught and carried away to wherever they took prisoners.

Right, get yourself together Garrett. Get in, plant the chip, get out. That’s all he needed to do. Pidge would handle the rest. They had this. As long as he didn’t mess up and give them away then they were fine.

He swallowed as he approached the door of the most prominent VIP booth. Luckily the most important booth went first so they could have the freshest pick of sweets. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, raising his hand to knock on the door before calling out, “Desserts!”

There was a moment of silence, followed by some hushed whispers, then the door opened and the most _intimidating man_  Hunk has ever seen stuck his head out, a single red eye gleaming down over him as it scanned both him and the cart. There was a beep, and the man made a small noise before pulling the door open and stepping aside, “Hurry on in.”

The tanned boy gulped, nodding as he pushed his cart inside. The booth was huge, a bit bigger than his bedroom, and was air conditioned at that. There was nice furniture and a minibar, and there were tiny screens in the corner just in case the incredibly close view of the arena somehow wasn’t enough.

“How lovely. You came in at the right time. I was just craving something sweet.” Lotor’s voice made him snap back into place, looking in front of him and the three people that were seated beside a large table between them. Hunk swallowed a large lump in his throat, trying to seem as natural as possible.

“Haha… We have a lot of desserts on the menu I can offer Sir.” Hunk pushed the cart closer to them, making a point to showcase all of the food items, “There’s Tiramisu, Cheesecake, Fruit cake, pancakes, sorbets, and everything else you see here. Feel free to choose anything you’d like.”

Allura perked up, eyeing the appetizing sweets, “I’ll have a piece of the fruit cake please.”

“And I’ll have one of the sorbets! A little alcohol will do wonders to my young self! Coran made his order, Hunk nodding in acknowledgement.

“And you Sir?” He turned to Lotor, fighting the incredible anxiety and stress he was feeling right now. Just where could he place the chip? Would under a plate be enough? But most importantly, would he be able to place it _anywhere_  with the large guy watching him so intensely at the back?

“I’ll have a Cheesecake.” Lotor made his choice before looking up and meeting Hunk’s eyes, “It is rather strange though that you are handing out desserts so early during the tournament. I barely had the time to eat anything yet.”

Hunk felt himself panic, “W-We wanted to make sure you received our cakes while they were as fresh as they could be. Please feel free to leave them on the table so that you can get to them after your main course.”

Good, he had an excuse. Now all he needed was to hand over the cakes, plant the chip, and then finally get out of here.

Hunk proceeded to give the sorbet first since it was the easiest to hand over. Then he cut two pieces of cake, managing to place the chip under Allura’s plate before placing it down in front of her. He felt his heart beat as he did, focusing on giving Lotor his plate.

“Is there anything else you need? Maybe some more wine?” Hunk asked with a smile, invisible sweat dripping down his forehead.

“No thank you, that would be all.” Lotor dismissed him, and Hunk finally took that as the clue to leave, pushing the cart out of the VIP booth.

“I’m sorry for interrupting. I hope you enjoy the show.” He said his goodbyes, flinching when the large man opened the door for him, waiting for him to exit before closing the door behind him. Hunk felt himself visibly deflate, thanking the heavens for a mission well accomplished.

He pulled the cart around the corner, contacting Pidge through his hidden earpiece to make sure that everything was working as if should be, “Bug planted. Is it working?”

“Fuck.” He heard a groan on the other side, followed by a “Hunk! Where did you put it? The sound is all muffled!”

“U-Under a plate.” Hunk muttered, “I was risking my life out there Pidge! I want to see you try and plant a bug while being watched by a super creepy guy with a red eye and crazy looking mechanical arm. I’m sure that if he found me, he would have killed me on the spot!”

“Ugh… Fine. I can work with this.” He heard the sound of furious keyboard tapping next, an unmistaken sound of Pidge tapping on the keyboards in front of her, “I’ll use voice recognition to help me understand what they’re saying more clearly. Now get your ass out of there Hunk. Matt should be lurking around the arena somewhere as well. It would be best if you found him and regrouped.”

“On it.” Hunk began pushing the cart again, silently and discretely making his way out of the VIP area. However, just as he was about to step out of the zone he was stopped by a sudden beeping that was coming out from the cart. He froze, shielding himself as a hologram of the cook appeared in front of him.

“And where do you think you’re going mister!” The man yelled, hands on his hips, “Get moving! These desserts won’t go to each booth by themselves!”

“O-Oh… B-But I got to-”

“No excuses!” The man yelled, “I got a tracker placed on every single one of my carts! I’ve got my eye on you newbie! Nobody escapes Sal’s kitchen! Do you understand!?”

“Yes sir!” Hunk saluted, and it seemed to work as the man nodded in return.

“Good! Now get moving! The VIPs need their desserts!” Then the hologram disappeared, prompting Hunk to sigh in relief. Well, now the plan of regrouping with Matt went out the window. He’ll have to distribute these first, unless he escape- Nope! Looking around, Hunk noted the cameras that were there. One of them was zooming onto him this very minute, urging him to get moving.

Right, new plan. Distribute the deserts and _then_  regroup with Matt. No big deal… Oh god… He did he get himself into this?

And while Hunk ended up distributing the rest of the desserts, Matt found himself standing beside one of the pillars, looking down at the arena below. The first fight had already began, and while the rest of the crowd watched it, he found himself observing the area around him.

He focused on finding where each of Lotor’s generals were, eyes narrowed as he scanned the stands, managing to spot Zethrid standing over at the right side of the arena. She had her arms folded in front of her, observing and watching just like himself.

Matt made a point to move then, having confirmed that Lotor’s generals were really here. He spoke softly into his earpiece as he went, “Z is over at Area 7. If she’s here then the other three have to be as well.”

“Of course they’d be here. If Lotor is, then it’s guaranteed that they would be too. I’m surprised you ever thought they wouldn’t.” Pidge spoke with a sigh, hacking into the security cameras she could. As a rebel, she was a specialist in what she did, and hacking was her forte. When it comes to infiltration and taking over a system completely, she was unrivalled in her field. “Fuck. They’re talking about the sweets Matt. I’m not getting anything solid. Lotor is such a player, oh my god.”

“Keep listening.” Matt whispered, walking over to the food stands, “You might hear something among the sweet talking.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Pidge grumbled, “Anyway, rendezvous with Hunk. He should be- Oh no, wait, nevermind. He’d giving out the rest of the desserts.”

“What?” The older Holt sibling asked in surprise.

“He’s been caught by the chef. No big deal. He’ll just get the rest of the orders done before joining you. Keep a lookout and wait for Hunk. The tournament just began so we have the time to spare right now.” Pidge resumed typing, listening in on Allura and Lotor’s chatter while trying to get access to more cameras.

“Got it.” Matt went with what he was told, lingering around while trying to stay out of sight. At least the battles looked promising, but while the fighters were battling it out there for everyone to see… among the crowds, there was a completely different battle taking place.

 

* * *

 

“My skin itches.” Lance complained, scratching himself wherever he could. He felt the disturbance in the dark matter all around him, something that happened so rarely that he was surprised it was happening now of all times.

“Is it a rash?” Romelle asked with a quirked brow, leaning forward as Lance continued to scratch at himself. Surprisingly when the introductions were done and the first fight began, he felt the itch on his skin loosen a bit.

“It’s _the_  thing. It’s acting up.” He tried to convey the message to Romelle, being careful should there be any cameras of bugs around to listen in on them.

The blond girl was confused at first but then she got the memo, “Should we call Allura? Maybe go home?”

“It’s not that serious.” He wouldn’t forgive himself if he went home only after just coming out into the outside world. “It’s getting better. Actually, it’s almost gone.” Lance assured, munching on some popcorn, “Besides, we’re making bets.”

“I’ll keep an eye on you.” Romelle warned, but trusted Lance when he said that it would be okay for now. She turned back towards the arena, looking down at the first pair of fighters, “They’re both newbies. You can see it in the way they fight. Quizak! Even I can fight better than that!”

“Uhh… It’s pronounced ‘quiznak’ and yeah, I agree.” Lance hummed, still feeling parts of his skin itch but he tried to push away the feeling and focus on the fight before him. It felt so incredibly strange, as if a larger quantity of dark matter was being built up within the arena. It made him feel uneasy but he hoped that it’d just go away by itself.

He didn’t want to go home but he wasn’t dumb enough to risk his and everyone else’s safety over it. If things worsened, then he just might have to leave. “The Champion was cool. I admire him.” Lance noted, trying to distract himself. “But I didn’t expect the Thunderstorm Darkness guy to be his brother. Pffft! I feel so bad for the Champion.”

“Maybe he chose the name so that his enemies are distracted by it.” Romelle noted, “You can’t fight if you’re standing laughing about it.”

“That must have been his tactic. I almost feel bad for him.” Well, if he can prove himself to be a good fighter, then he can redeem himself for the _awful_  name he chose.

The fight dragged on for a little too long before one of the fighters were finally knocked out, but the itching in his skin didn’t get any worse so he decided that it probably wasn’t something to be /too/ concerned about. If it got even a little bit itchier than he’d call Allura and bail, but for now it was good. There was probably a good explanation for this, something built into the arena they’d just turned on. He didn’t know, he’d look it up later when the fights were over. Besides, the Champion was going up!

And holy crow was the guy buff. The Champion’s muscles were bigger than his head! There was no way that the other guy was winning today. Lance had seen the Champion in the line up, but it was different when the guy threw off his unessential and walked up in his armour and high-tech mechanical arm. He’d seen a few of the guy’s fights on the holo, but seeing this guy in real life, up close and personal, that was a whole different game.

“The Champion. I put my money on the Champion.” Lance stated without hesitation, pulling his arm up and summoning the betting pool from the nanos in the air, his bracelet summoning the screen as he immediately bet on the man.

“You and everyone else with a brain.” Romelle spoke, her eyes locked onto her own screen, “It looks like there are more people in a different pool betting on how quickly he’ll beat the guy then if he will win. All sorts of bets, like if the guy will even land a hit.”

“Sounds more fun anyway.” Lance shrugged, scrolling to join those bets, “I give it a minute.”

“Hmm, I’ll give it a minute and a half.” Romelle pressed at her screen, locking in her bet and the money she’d placed on it.

“Winner buys the loser dinner.” Lance spoke, waving away his screen and relaxing back into his chair, eyes locked on the arena as the two fighters settled into position.

It turned out that both he and Romelle were wrong in the end, something that somewhat irked Lance, because it was totally unfair. The Champion didn’t even move when the fight started, leaving it to the opponent. It took a good thirty ticks for the guy to work up either the courage or the frustration to attack, and then the Champion just dodged for a while, tiring the other fighter out before finally delivering a swift hit to the back of the guy’s neck, knocking the poor guy out. Overall, it took two minutes tops.

“If he had attacked first I would have won!” Romelle cried, tugging at her hair, “I would have won! This isn’t fair!”

“I knooooow.” Lance cried, slumping in his seat, “I’m keeping this in mind for his next match!”

“Me too!” Romelle cried.

The two of them complained a bit more, swearing that the next time they were going to play it safer in the next round the Champion fought in. Once they were done complaining Lance still felt indigent enough to pull up the pools again and hurry over to the next match, where good ole’ Thunderstorm Darkness was up against some other guy in the top tens. From the looks of it he wasn’t exactly a favorite to win, with the people betting in his favor being far less than the other guy. Which, okay, Thunderstorm Darkness was a stupid name, but the guy was the second best fighter in the arena _and_  the Champion’s brother! Come on people!

“I’m betting on Thunderstorm Darkness.” Lance placed selects his bet, putting down money confidently.

“Are you sure?” Romelle asked with a raised eyebrow, “I figured you wouldn’t touch him, with a name like that and all.”

“Just because he has a stupid name doesn’t mean he’s not tough.” Lance shrugged, turning his eyes back on the arena and waiting for the next fight.

 

* * *

 

The itching in Keith’s skin hadn’t gotten any better by the time Shiro’s match was over and done with. He’d hoped that it would lessen by now, but it didn’t look like it was going away any time soon. The dark matter wasn’t dying down and there was no way it could end well.

And he was next up too.

Shit.

Violet eyes flickered over his itching skin, goosebumps raising as a wave of nervousness washed over him. He couldn’t afford to back out though, they needed this money. He just needed to be careful and make sure he didn’t activate any of his…“special abilities” and he’d be fine. He was in perfect control, he’d never once acted out or bugged out, he was fine. Just because something was making them act up didn’t mean anything. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d be using any of his special skills.

He’d just get through this round, get back to Shiro’s locker room, and calm down until his next match. This wasn’t anything to do with the dark matter, it couldn’t be, it wasn’t possible, he was just nervous because of the people and the importance of today’s match. Yeah, that was it.

Keith took a calming breath, letting the tenseness of his muscles melt away by the time his brother crawled back in the pit. He smiled, patting his brother on the shoulder as he walked in,“Good match.”

“Thanks.” Shiro nodded, sitting down and grabbing a water packet, “Good luck out there. Remember to stay safe, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith nodded, taking a step on the bottom step. He stopped for just a moment, taking one last, calming, breath before he had to go out there.

“You okay?” Shiro asked from behind him, his voice taking a twinge of worry,

“Yeah.” Keith nodded, “I’m just on edge with all the people. The president’s son is up there you know.”

“Don’t worry Keith.” Shiro’s voice was reassuring, and only Keith could hear the double meaning behind his words, “Just go out there, defeat him quickly, and come right on back. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“I won’t.” Keith promised, feeling reassured by his brother’s words, “I’ll be right back.”

Keith stepped into the arena, the roar of the crowd filling his ears as he made his way to the center, Bob’s annoying voice boasting as he called for bets to be made. He clenched his jaw a bit, annoyed by the announcer and his neverending smugness. He hated Bob, he really did. The man certainly didn’t help the itch in his skin.

The noirette ignored the announcer, focusing instead on his opponent. The other fighter was a somewhat familiar sight, he didn’t have a name to go with the face, but he was familiar enough with the man’s bulky and hulking form to vaguely recognize him. He was a heavyweight fighter, throwing around large muscle and his size. He wasn’t slow, per se, but he was too slow for someone as acrobatic and quick as Keith.

Right, get around the guy, send some quick attacks to his weak points, and be done with it nice and quick. Avoid the arms, and don’t stay in one place long enough for him to decide to stomp on his smaller body. Right, he had a game plan.

Bob finally, _finally_ , stopped talking and started the damn match. The other guy didn’t wait even a second longer before going on the offensive. He didn’t have a weapon, but his fists were more than enough, as evidenced when Keith dodged his punch and the man’s fist hit the ground and dust flew all around from the impact. The man howled a little, but he was moving again, rounding on him and throwing another fist.

Keith drew a single knife, deciding that only one would be enough for his little strategy. He settled, waiting for another fist to fly towards him, which it reliably did. He spun on his heel, spinning behind the man and taking a sharp blade to his his lower right leg, a warning stab.

The man howled, and Keith backed away as his opponent took the time to assess the damage. Anyone sensible would have backed down, especially with a wounded leg and with how easily Keith had made it that way. He could have easily getten the upper thighs and made the man permanently lose that leg, or the shoulders where the nerve bundles could have been damaged and he could lose use of his arm. Yeah, a smart man would have forfeited by now.

Either the man didn’t know as much about anatomy as Keith, very possible considering the pale boy grew up in a lab where he had _very_  intimate lessons on where he could be cut with or without damage, or he was a fucking idiot. The noriette decided it must have been a mix of the two, because the man simply stood up and put all his weight on the other leg instead.

The young fighter growled his frustration, his skin itching horribly, annoyance spreading through him as he waited to see what his opponent would do to adapt to his strategy. He _should_  just go ahead and knock the guy out, finish this guy off, but he wanted to play this safe. The president’s son was here, and a district manager, he didn’t want to seem overly impressive.

If only it wasn’t so fucking hot, and itchy. He was too irritated for this, or maybe he was irritated because of how much he itched? Whatever, he just wanted to go back to the pit.

The brawler was a bit smarter than the average thick headed muscle man, because he didn’t just rapidly throw punches and hope to catch Keith now. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of sand, flinging it towards him in an attempt to blind the smaller man. Keith dodged, but the man figured out his strategy by now and sent a punch.

Something happened then.

The itch in his skin was gone the moment the punch landed, the wind leaving his lungs the moment he felt a _pulse_. The dark matter moved around him instinctively, and Keith could only watch, wide eyed and horrified, as a shockwave pulsed to life and knocked his opponent right out of the ring and into the stands, landing with a thud on the stairs _three stories away_ , the ground beneath him sent out a wave to go with the sudden pulse of power, destroying the lower columns of the stadium. From where he was he watched several booths blow out, glass shattering as purple waves of energy spread and pushed back against the walls. Several of the holoscreens shut down, disappearing from sight, and Bob’s chair started falling as the energy holding it up disappeared.

Oh shit.

_Oh shit._

Keith backed away, gripping his knife tightly as he did. There were screams of confusion now, people standing up and running in a panic, and it became very clear to him _very_  fast that he needed to do the same.

He didn’t wait for anyone to regain their senses or try to put together what had happened. He turned and fled right back to the pit, Shiro already storming out, steps pounding against the ground and eyes blown wide with barely contained panic. Keith didn’t even have time to open his mouth and explain before his brother grabbed his arm and _flung_  him over his shoulder, turning and _bolting_  through the arena entrance and down the halls.

Shiro didn’t stop, even as the other fighters flooded out of their lockers to investigate what had happened, he just barreled right through the door, not even bothering to stop by his own locker room.

Outside people were panicking, the crowds through into a confused mass of stumbling bodies and barely contained chaos. There were shouts demanding to know what had happened, screams, cars were swerving into place as guards and police tried to calm them. Shiro didn’t stop even then, simply ducking his head and slipping away, using the chaos of the crowd to his advantage.

They didn’t make it too far, ending up in an alleyway by some nearby apartments, the homeless and criminals smart enough to have taken the same route and lining the walls as the slinked away from the chaos before it could get violent or the police could figure out what was going on. It was only here Shiro finally lost his cool, “Keith! _What happened_?”

The younger brother flinched at the older’s tone, the tightening hand just another indication of the sheer panic he was repressing. There was nothing that he could really say either, or at least nothing that would comfort Shiro, so he settled on the truth, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t _know?”_ Something in Shiro’s voice broke, “How can you not know?”

“I didn’t use my biotics!” Keith grabbed his hair, the stress of the situation suddenly catching up to him, “Something must have caused my element zero nodules to act up! I didn’t do that on my own!”

“How? Why?” Shiro stopped running for just a moment, placing him down and grabbing his shoulders, shaking him a bit, like doing so would somehow make the answers magically appear in the younger boy’s head.

“I don’t know! Like I said, this never happened before!” Keith grabbed Shiro’s wrists, trying to hold on because Shiro just...just always had the answers when they were little, “I haven’t had trouble since I was first learning to control it! And even then it wasn’t that bad!”

Shiro took a deep breath, closing his eyes and squeezing them shut very tightly, enough that it almost looked like he grew several wrinkles in the last ten minutes alone, which he probably had. He exhaled slowly, trying fruitlessly to banish the stress from his body. “Alright, alright. Your biotics went out of control for no discernible reason, on live stream, in front of the whole world while the president’s son and a district manager were watching. We have back up plans, we have options.”

“Shiro…?” Keith questioned, giving his brother’s wrist a comforting squeeze, “I’m sorry.”

“Shhh, Keith, no. I’m not letting you go back to that place.” Shiro breathed, opening his eyes, “We have to run for now, make sure the chip works, we’ll...we’ll figure something out. I’m not going to let them get you Keith. Never.”

“Awww… How utterly sweet.” Both Shiro and Keith flinched in surprise, quickly turning to see two women standing in the alleyway with them. One was of a lean build while the other was much bulkier. The smaller one had her hands on her hips, eyeing the two with a smirk on her face, “Did you really think you could have escaped after causing all of that? I don’t think so.”

Keith’s brows furrowed, turning to the two with tightened fists, “Who-”

“We’re not here to fight.” Shiro stepped in, extending his hand in front of Keith so that the noirette wouldn’t do something they would regret later. “Nor are we the ones responsible for what just happened.”

“Yeah, right.” The larger woman snorted, eyeing the two warily, “Luckily for you, we’re specially trained to act in emergencies like this. We don’t know what you did there, but we’ll have to ask you to come with us.”

“Not happening.” Shiro’s voice remained firm, unweaving even when faced with two of Lotor’s generals. He would recognise them anywhere, the notorious Ezor and Zethrid.

“You don’t make the rules here sweetheart. Listen, here’s the tea.” Ezor raised her hand to point at them, “You’ll both surrender and then we’ll take you in for questioning. If you’re as innocent as you say you are, then you’ll be free to leave. It’s as easy as that. Don’t make it any more complicated than it has to be.”

Shiro tensed, fully aware of the situation at hand. He tried to think of possible things they could do, but at the moment, only one option seemed sensible enough to do. “Keith.” He whispered to the other, the said boy listening in on what Shiro was about to say. “Run.”

And so they did. Both Shiro and Keith sprinted, running away from the two generals. Ezor and Zethrid both grinned, thrilled by the prospect of having some fun. And that’s how the chase began.

 

* * *

 

As soon as the powerful shockwave passed throughout the entire stadium, Lotor, Allura and Coran all had to cover themselves from the shattering glass, shielding themselves before looking down at the ring again. “What was that!?” Lotor asked in a startle, attention snapping to electronics that suddenly began losing power all around.

Then there were the screams, loud and clear as the crowd was thrown into panic.

Allura’s heart beat loudly in her chest, recognising the essence of the blast she had experienced before. She felt it many times in the past, especially when her father was still alive and Lance had just come to their home.

She could remember the exact same type of wave pushing her many times in the past, realising just what was going on here. Her eyes quickly moved onto Lance and Romelle’s booth, relief washing over her as soon as she noticed that the two were still inside. She sighed in relief, but that didn’t mean that the panic subdued.

If Lance managed to cause this, the authorities will be onto them. She had to get them all out of here. However, even though the logical part of her mind told her that it couldn’t have been anyone else apart from Lance, she inevitably knew and _saw_  where the shockwave originated from.

It had been that Thunderstorm Darkness fighter. But… That just wasn’t possible…

“Incredible.” She heard Lotor mutter beside her, eyes flying over to look at his stunned form, “I’ve never experienced such powerful shockwave before. The components of it were so strong that they managed to short circuit the entire colosseum. We’re left completely without power.”

“Lotor, we’ll have to evacuate the area. If the rebels are responsible for this, we may be their next targets.” Allura made the excuse, turning to the door with Coran fast behind her, “Coran, we have to go.”

“The rebels?” Lotor was confused, remaining calm and yet still trying to understand what just happened. “It could have been them but then again…”

“Sire.” Sendak snapped him out of his thoughts, an unusually wide grin on his face. “It would be wise of us to listen to Mrs. Alteanis at the moment. We have to evacuate. I’ll notify your father of the events.”

“Get your filthy hands off me.” Lotor hissed, standing up and quickly walking towards the door. “Do whatever you want. It’s none of my concern.”

“Sir Lotor!” The door of their booth opened, revealing two women on the other side. They were two of Lotor’s generals, Acxa and Narti. “The colosseum has suffered structural damage sir. We’re here to escort you back to your car.”

“Very well.” Lotor’s voice was firm as he spoke, “We’ll go outside until the crowds clear. Then we’ll return here and investigate what happened.” Then he turned to Allura, “It would be best if you come with me Allura. It wouldn’t be safe to venture out into the crowds at the moment.”

“I’ll be safe.” She assured him, “I have associates I have to see to. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and make sure they’re safe.” She said turning on her heels and leaving, “I’ll contact you later.”

“Very well. Be safe.” Lotor bid her farewell, watching as she and Coran ran out. He turned to his generals next, his next words as quiet as possible, “I take it you’ve already restrained the two fighters that fought during the time the shockwave erupted.”

“Yes.” Acxa confirmed, “Ezor and Zethrid are already in pursuit of Thunderstorm Darkness.”

“Perfect.” The man grinned, tilting his head to the side to look into their booth, spotting Sendak’s figure on the edge and looking down at the panicked crowds. What Lotor didn’t see at the time was the large grin on his face, so incredibly wide that it was cracking on the sides.

His red eye surveyed the arena, monitoring the traces of dark matter that his eye allowed him to see. He noted the trail leading outside and into the hallways that the fighters used to come in and out of the arena.

Then he spotted another source, and this one was still present within the arena. He zoomed in on one of the booths that had it’s glass shattered, managing to see a figure but not completely since it was obscured by the structure of the booth.

He made sure to live broadcast what his eye saw back to his higher ups, thrilled at the prospect of his discovery. “I’ve located both of the biometrics.” He whispered in delight, licking his lips as he continued watching the source within the booth.

“Pursue.” He heard a voice say through the comms in his ear, urging him to turn on his heels to walk out of the room. Lotor noticed him move, eyes dangerously narrowed. He didn’t say anything as Sendak walked past him, heading to the same direction Allura disappeared to.

Lotor decided to ignore the fool, but did get an unsettling feeling that this incident may be related to a project he’d uncovered a few years ago. If that is true, then he’ll have to make sure that he’s the first one to obtain the biometrics.

That is the only reasonable explanation for this incident. Especially with the way that shockwave emerged from that one fighter’s body.

 

* * *

 

Lance felt his skin itch all over, driving him mad. However, even though it felt like bugs were biting him all over, he couldn’t find it in himself to focus on the itching at all. Not when he saw the sudden shockwave pass throughout the entire colosseum, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

The dark matter was all over the place and he could feel it. His eyes were immediately drawn to the single figure in the arena, wide and shocked as he watched the fighter stand in place before panickingly running away.

He felt his heart beat heavily in his ribcage, something within him snapping as he suddenly realised who this person might be. He couldn’t move his eyes away, hands shaking as he watched the fighter jump into the pits, the champion soon picking him up and carrying him away from Lance’s view.

“A-Ah… T-That…” He muttered, so completely in shock that he couldn’t find it in himself to move.

“Lance? Lance!” Romelle was quickly by his side, reaching out to hold onto his hands, “Are you okay? What happened!? D-Did you do this?”

“N-No… No… I-It wasn’t me….” He found it hard to breathe all of a sudden, feeling the dark matter around him. “I-It was… Keith… Keith!” Only when he said the name did he clench his jaw, shooting to stand up on shaky legs and run for the door.

He took Romelle by surprise, the girl standing up quickly and following him, “Lance! Wait for me!”

As the brunette opened the door, he hit something on the other side harshly, hearing a yelp in response. “A-Aw! Hey! What’s the big deal here?” Hunk complained, his cart of desserts now flipped over.

Lance paused, blue eyes meeting brown for a second before turning, continuing his run out of the VIP area. “Lance! Wait for me!” Romelle yelled after him, noticing poor Hunk that was on the floor, “I’m soooo sorry! We’ll make it up to you I promise!” She assured but didn’t stop in her run, following the brunette as he ran through the crowd.

“Quiznak.” Hunk panickingly flipped the cart back up, only to get a loud yell from Pidge in return.

“Idiot! What’re you doing! We don’t have time for this! Quickly go find Mat and follow that fighter!” She yelled, the urgency raw in her voice. Hunk had never heard Pidge being this panicked before in his life.

“W-What? Why?” Hunk asked, cart long forgotten as he began running, coming out into the open to look for the older Holt sibling.

“T-The fighter! If my sensors are correct, then there has been a disturbance in the balance of dark matter. The disbalance was the cause of the shockwave that erupted which could only result if two strong forces are nearby an-”

“Whoa! Calm down Pidge.” Hunk stopped her before she could say anything else, “I have no idea what you just said.”

“Fuck! _Hunk_! Move! We’re chasing that fighter!” Pidge yelled, furiously tapping onto her keyboard and Hunk could swear that he never heard her type faster before. Pidge was a fast typer but now she exceeded even her own limits.

“Got it!” He had no idea what was going on but he knew better than to ignore Pidge’s commands. He set out on searching for Matt, hoping to find him among the panicked crowd.

And as Hunk ran, Allura was fast on her heels too, running towards Lance and Romelle’s booth. Reaching it, she found that it was empty, dreading the thought that Lance might get himself in trouble. She looked out of the shattered window, trying to spot both Lance and Romelle among the crowd, managing to spot them running towards the back door used by the staff and participants.

“Coran get the car ready! Lance, Romelle and I will be there soon. We’ll be waiting for you at the back entrance.” She gave her command, jumping down the booth while the older man agreed, running out to get their car.

Allura used her mechanical legs, using their power to boost herself and run incredibly fast. If she had her flesh and bone legs, she wouldn’t be able to go as quickly, managing to slip through the panicked crowd, lucky enough that they were too busy panicking to pay any attention to her.

“Allura!” Romelle sighed in relief as soon as she saw her, managing to catch up to Lance and grab him by the shoulder, forcing him back. The brunette was surprise but she could also see a stronger emotion within him; panic and worry.

“Lance we have to leave.” She said, holding tightly onto Lance’s shoulder. “It’s not safe here anymore.”

“I can’t leave Allura.” The brunette tilted his head to look at the direction of where the champion and… Keith disappeared off to. “That was _Keith_  Allura! It _had_  to be him! Nobody else could have done that.” Saying it out loudly like this made his heart beat even louder, the sheer panic evident in his eyes. “I have to get to him. I _have_  to!”

“Lance, I understand how you feel but we can’t go after him right now. Not like this.” She urged, trying to convey the urgency of the predicament they were in. “We’ll look for him, but not right now. We have to leave.”

“No.” Lance tugged on his hand. “I have to go.” He always listened to Allura, always saw the logic in her words and knew that she only wanted the best for him. He never disobeyed her warnings, and she understood him whenever he complained about something as well.

They were a team, working with mutual understanding and acceptance of how they had to live their lives. However, this time was different because never in his life did Lance feel this strong of an urge to go. How could he not? When Keith was _right here_  in the ring. He was _right here_  and it was that thought that made every cell of his body itch even more. “I’m sorry Allura. You can’t stop me.”

The woman tightened her hold, understanding yet unwilling to let go. It pained her to do this but it had to be done. A small needle suddenly emerged from her bracelet, pinching Lance’s shoulder. The brunette flinched, taking a step back as Allura continued holding onto his hand. “I’m so sorry, but I promise we’ll look for him later. Just not now, we can’t.”

Lance felt his body weaken instantly, eyes closing as he began falling down. Allura caught him in her arms, picking him up before looking over at Romelle, “Coran is waiting with the car at the back. We have to hurry while the people are still panicked and the attention is focused onto the two fighters.”

“Right.” Romelle nodded, following Allura to the side where nobody would see them. The cameras were out of power, just like the rest of the electronics within the colosseum. Romelle used this change to take out her concealed cloaking device, switching it on and making the three of them invisible.

Now that nobody could see them, they slowly made their way to the back where Coran was waiting for them in their car.

 

* * *

 

Being chased through a back alley was a whole lot different than fighting in the open ring. It was narrow, filled with sharp turns, and you never knew when some poor fucker was going to be standing in the way when you bolted past a corner. It didn’t help that one of his pursuers is incredibly acrobatic and was bouncing off the damn walls to get an advantage, something _he_ was usually doing if there were bigger opponents.

It didn’t help that the more massive of the two wasn’t exactly slow either. She was massive, as big as the fighter in the arena, but with twice the speed and probably a bit more brain to her. The bouncy one was acrobatic, at least as acrobatic as him, but probably didn’t have the physical strength to match them. Still, she’s fucking dangerous and annoying, and he was familiar enough with fights to know all it took was one well-timed hit to take someone down.

And, fuck it, running into homeless people or a thug around every fucking corner wasn’t helping them get away at all. His only solace was the fact that they were slowing down his pursuers as much as they were slowing him down.

Still, getting out of the narrow fuck alley and into more open area felt good, if only because he wouldn’t have to stomp over another damn mugger while trying to get away from pinky and the beast back there. So when it became _almost_  time to exit the narrow pathways and run the open field he stopped, decided to say fuck it, turned around and sent a shockwave to knock the fuckers back. The pulse of purple energy flew from his body, knocking everything and everyone right the fuck back on onto their asss. Then he turned on his heel and hauled ass right out of there.

“Keith.” Shiro hissed beside him as they sped across the the pavement, making a sharp left and into some adjacent alley at a nearby building slightly more off path than taking a straight shot, “Was that necessary? Now we can’t deny anything!”

“A bit late for that Shiro.” Keith huffed, ducking down another turn, trying to make the path between him and his pursuers as confusing and irritating as possible, “It’s not like they wouldn’t be able to tell anyway; I already broke the arena.”

Shiro made a very distressed noise, but he at least didn’t stop running. Normally Keith would feel a bit of smug satisfaction from winning an argument, but here he only felt cold. This wasn’t a situation he wanted to be in right now.

The two brothers fell into silence and didn't stop running for a long, long, time. It could have been hours for all Keith knew, but he was weaving and waving down long roads and hiding behind shadows. They didn’t go home, couldn’t go home, and were forced to keep fleeing even as their feet became sore and their bodies became heavy.

They had always made plans for this, just in case, and there _were_  procedures they made and such, but the real thing felt a whole lot different than what if scenarios. It was definitely more stressful, because he didn’t know how close the police were, or if they’d found him out yet, or if they could _track_  him or not. He also never thought anything like this would actually _happen_ , especially not the way it went down, live streaming and in front of basically the entire world. In front of the president’s son no less.

Shit, Adam was going to be so pissed when he found out.

He should have stayed in bed today. Called in a mental health day and sunk into his mattress with soft music in his ear and dreams of Lance in his mind. Now look at him, desperately trying to make it to a safe house, his brother right beside him and sweating bullets. Fuck, everything already felt like it was burning now that he was running like a madman through the streets.

He peeled back a glove as he ran, checking his chip. Unfortunately it had lost power as well when he blasted the fucking arena. Now it was only a matter of time before he was dragged back into the network and they would be able to find him easily. There was no way they wouldn’t be able to identify him easily as Keith Kogane, who lives with his biological cousin Takashi Shirogane and future in-law Adam. They’d track him down easily if he didn’t find another hacker to sell him a chip _fast_. And not only one now, Shiro was certainly going to need one too, and even then it was only a matter of time before either a bounty went up on them or they ran out of money for monthly chips, and that was just if their bank accounts weren’t _frozen_.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

He was going to get caught. He was going back to the labs. Uncle Sam had risked everything to get him out and now he was going right back to be locked away, slapped in a cage, this time without even a fucking bed. It was back to being 004, only this time there was no Lance and Uncle Sam there for when his turn on the cold steel tables ended. And that was if he was lucky. He could be dissected, or worse, face a vivisection. He could feel the blood draining from his face as he imagined the cold scalpel cutting into his skin, trying to find the secrets of his biotics while he wiggled around, strapped down and in pain.

He was going to throw up.

Shiro made another sharp turn, this time to the left, and the two brothers promptly run straight into another guy. This guy, unlike the ones they had been forced to mow past before, was a rather big and healthy guy. Running into him felt only marginally better than running into a wall, and Keith found himself face first with a bunch of yellow as the guy’s arms caught him.

“Whoa, are you okay?” The guy asked.

Shiro had exactly zero time for this shit and promptly plucked Keith out of the guy’s arms, wasting zero time as he continued to speed down the alley with the younger brother in tow. He didn’t even bother sparing the guy another look when he called out with a “Hey! Wait!”, he just speed them straight down the path.

Or he would have, if two people didn’t step in their way with what looked like bombs.

 _That_  got Shiro to freeze.

“Hey sweetheart.” A girl with blonde hair spoke, her hair done in a style that might or might not have been dreadlocks. She clicked her tongue, eyeing them as he fiddled with something in the pockets of her overalls. Beside her a tall and lanky guy stood slouched and casual, like he didn’t have a fucking bomb strapped to him.

Platinum hair McAsshat gave an easy smile. He must be the smooth talker of the two, because he’s the one that stepped forward and started speaking, “Now now, there’s no need for that look. We just wanna talk. We’re all friends here.”

“Some friends.” Keith scoffed, “You have a fucking bomb.”

“That’s for worst case scenario.” Mr Fuckface Pisswagon smiled, “We don’t really want anyone getting hurt now.”

“Says the guy who brought a bomb.” Yellow shirt guy walked up behind them, a harsh look set firmly on his face, “What are you doing Rolo? Go away, you’re scaring the guy!”

“Hey Hunk.” The guy sent a casual wave, “Nice to see you.”

“Did you follow me?” The guy, Hunk, sniffed, “Not cool man. This is a delicate situation, we don’t need anarchy right here and now.”

“Pretty sure you do.” Rolo shrugged, clicking his tongue the way his partner did, “There’s police everywhere, this guy needs to get underground fast. Word probably spread to the president by now is my guess.”

Keith paled at those words, ice spreading through his veins like a thrashing snake. He could feel the chills spread down his spine, the memory of a giant man towering over him fresh in his mind. He’d only been one of about twenty or so faces back then, but now Zarkon would take a much more keen interest in him personally.

If word had already gotten to the president…

“Who are you?” Shiro was the first to regain his voice, even if it was a bit more heavy than normal.

The guy and his partner shared a smile, all twitching lips and gleaming eyes. The girl was the one who spoke this time, “We’re rebels against the council. More specifically? Against Zarkon.”

“Oh fuck.” Keith spit, brushing his hair back out of sheer goddamned stress, “Shiro, we’ve been cornered by terrorists!”

“Whoa, hey now!” Hunk turned to them, his brown eyes wide and almost innocent looking as he waved his hands frantically, “Don’t lump me in with those guys! The anarchist are the only terrorist here! I’m innocent!”

“Oh god.” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose, “We don’t have _time_  for this.”

“Exactly!” Hunk cried, turning back on the two blocking their way, waving his hands in a shooing motion, “It’s only a matter of time before they get the trackers back up for everyone at the arena. We got to get them away before that can happen. Pidge and Matt are the only ones who can do that, so you two can just go...I don’t know...blow up something while I get them out of sight.”

“Who says we’re going with _you.”_ Keith snapped, flinching away from Hunk, “For all we know you’re just as bad as the guys in the government.”

“I swear I’m the good guy here buddy.” Hunk raised his hands up in the air in a show of peace, “Not all rebels are the same. We don’t really have a choice who joins, and even if we do, we can’t really control what everyone does. You’ll have to trust me when I say that I’m here to help. I can take you to a safe place, only if you allow me to.”

“Not an option.” Shiro hissed, “We’re not trusting either parties, neither you or your two friends.”

“Guys, guys… I think we all got off on the wrong foot here.” Rolo tried to calm the situation, raising his hands up as well, “Here’s the deal, you two will come with us and then you’ll show us how you managed to haywire the colosseum like that. We could use that trick later on when fighting against Zarkon.”

“It’s not a trick you can learn.” Keith felt himself sway from one side to the other, itching to get moving already. If they stand in one place like this, it’s more likely that the police will catch up to them. Not to mention that they couldn’t trust these rebels at all. For all they knew, they could be passing on information about their whereabout to others, buying time before they arrived. “Get out of our way.”

“Not gonna happen kiddo.” Rolo sighed, “Just come with us and all will be good.”

“They’re not going with you.” Hunk butted in, “They’re coming with me. Please _trust me_. I have someone who can help you guys immensely. They mean no harm to you.”

“No harm?” Keith narrowed his eyes, “It’s hard to believe since this world is full of people who are privy to using others.”

“Keith.” Shiro placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder, squeezing gently, “Here’s what will really happen. All three of you will move aside and let us pass, or else you’re going to regret it.” He already began formulating a plan if the worst scenario of the bombs going off happened. They could escape using dark matter but then it would draw more attention to their location. If would be a risk, but if it came to it, there was nothing they could do about it.

“We’re getting nowhere.” Nyma clicked her tongue, hand on the bomb on her, “Surrender now or we’ll blow you up.”

“That’s a hoax.” Hunk’s words made both Shiro and Keith turn to him, “Those wires aren’t connected. You can’t set them off.”

“H-How did you-” Rolo and Nyma flinched in surprise, but they didn’t really have the time to fully react as both Keith and Shiro began to move, using the walls on the sides to jump and pass the two rebels. Once on the ground again the two began running again, leaving the three rebels behind.

“H-Hey! Wait up!” Hunk called after them but unfortunately running wasn’t his forte, which meant that he would lose the two _very quickly_. Nyma and Rolo on the other hand began shooting at them, gunfire surprising the two brothers as they evaded.

They turned a corner, evading blast fire as they went. The two rebels were stubborn though, managing to keep up and continue shooting at them. It was at that point that Keith and Shiro decided to hide behind trash cans, knowing that they couldn’t escape unless they took care of the two.

They didn’t have any guns on them which meant that they had to improvise. Shiro took the cap of one of the trash cans, throwing it at Rolo and managing to hit him. This created an opening for the faster of the two brothers to strike, Keith running out of his hiding to attack Nyma who continued shooting at him in a startle.

Keith was focused though, violet eyes dark as he ran, jumping on a wall and then kicking the gun out of Nyma’s hand. Shiro joined him once she was down, taking care of Rolo, punching him in the face as the guy lost consciousness.

“You’ll regret this! We could have helped you!” Nyma yelled angry as she kneeled down beside Rolo, holding his upper body up against herself.

“We didn’t ask for your help.” Shiro turned, looking out the alleyway, “Let’s go Keith.”

“Right.” No matter how tired they were they continued in their run, hearing Hunk’s faint voice at the back.

“G-Guys! W-Wait up!” The poor rebel ran, leaning against the corner of the alleyway they were in. He was panting heavily, barely managing to keep up, “I-I can help you! I know someone that can help you!”

“There’s nobody out there who can help us.” Keith turned to him, looking at the hunched down form, “There would be nothing in it for them.”

“There would be! You have no idea what the person I’m talking about went through to find you. She and her brother have been looking for you for _years_  man! You have to believe me.” Hunk pleaded, and while Keith was curious, the dreadful thought of being caught overrode all of it.

“Sorry.” He said, turning as he and Shiro ran out. He heard Hunk pleading for them to wait behind, but they couldn’t stop. They ran and ran, and when they finally saw an opening into open space, they took the chance to lose the rebels that were following them.

However, before they could get out, a van suddenly blocked their path, making the two brothers stop in their tracks. Shiro and Keith tensed, watching as the door of the van opened, revealing a short… girl? Standing in front of the door with short brown hair, round glasses and a green jacket. “There you are.” She said, jumping down the van.

Her eyes focused on Keith specifically, eyeing him up and down, “You’re the one I wanted to meet for twelve years now. I always thought that our meeting would be special but I guess this will do.”

Shiro and Keith looked at one another, the number twelve making Keith tense. Twelve… She could only mean one thing by that… “What do you want? Who are you?”

“What I want is to help you.” The girl said, hands clenched by her sides. It was then that another person emerged from the van, a male with brown hair that went up to his shoulders, looking down at the two of them and jumping down the stairs. “You have to trust me and get into the van. The way I see it, Matt and I are your only means of survival right now.”

Keith narrowed his eyes, stopped by Shiro who stopped him before he was about to say anything, “We don’t have the time to waste here. Goodbye.”

“You’re making a big mistake Subject 004.” The girl’s voice made Keith freeze in place, ice spreading throughout his veins at the mention of his past codename. He turned his head to face the girl again, his attention fully on her now.

“H-How do you know that?” His voice may have cracked at the end, but he tried to keep it together.

“People call me Pidge, but my real name is Katie Holt. This here beside me is my brother, Matt Holt. We’re the children of Sam Holt, someone I’m sure you knew very well.” Pidge’s tone was form as she spoke, eyes never leaving Keith’s body. “I know what your plan is, and it’s not going to work. All you’ll be doing is stall for time until the government eventually gets their hands on you. When that happens… you know what they’ll do to you.”

Keith couldn’t find it in himself to move, not even an inch of his finger. His eyes were wide, unmoving from Pidge’s tiny form.

The girl took another step forward, raising her hand up for Keith to take, “I know a lot about you, and together, we can uncover more secrets about your past. More secrets of… what happened in that facility.” Pidge bit her lip but she kept her hand in the air nevertheless, “Take my hand and come with me. If you trusted my father, then you must know that he would never ever forgive me if I did anything to you. I’d never do anything against his wishes.”

Keith hesitated, his eyes flickering over to his brother, who stood towering next to him with squared shoulders. Their eyes met, and years of living together let them understand perfectly what the other wanted to say. Shiro’s grey eyes said everything; that this was Keith’s call, and all he had to do was say the word and the older man will act without question.

Violet eyes flickered over the other two siblings. The brown hair, the hazel eyes, the skin tone. They _did_ look a lot like Uncle Sam. The chances of them faking their identities weren’t overly high, at least he doesn’t think, and he doubts that two children of Uncle Sam would work for the government after the _hell_  he was put through at the labs.

Even if he wanted to be more suspicious, his options were running low. There wasn’t a lot of time to find someone and get a chip, and even then there was no guarantee that would work. No, like it or not, it seemed like his best option was going with these rebels, terrorist group or not. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t have to. So long as he was alive and away from those labs then he’s better off.

Besides, he could always trust Uncle Sam, and if his children were anything like him than they were extraordinary.

“Alright.” Keith nodded, stepping forward to take her hand, “We’ll go with you, for Uncle Sam’s sake, but if you screw us then Shiro and I will rip that van apart.”

The girl let out a long breath, probably relieved he took her offer, and squeezed his hand into a shake. He nodded towards her brother, who also let out his own relieved sigh and hopped back into the van. She turned back towards him, her face lifting with newfound confidence, “You made the right choice. I promise that no one in the government will find you while you’re with us.”

“Yeah.” Keith nodded his head, sharing a quick look with his brother before they both moved to crawl into the van. It was a bit crowded, with the back seats having been ripped out and all sorts of wires and screens littering the deck. The brother, Matt, had crawled into the front seat and was already starting the van. Shiro crawled into the corner next to the door, positioning himself in case he had to suddenly throw it open. He sat just in front of the man, as clear of the tech as he could get, Pidge followed inside, and lastly that Hunk guy showed up, a wheezing mess, and threw himself into the front seat.

“Why’d you guys make me chase them if you were coming yourselves?” The Hunk guy wheezed as he threw the door closed.

Pidge elected to ignore him, focusing instead on Keith as the door closed and the van started, “You made the right choice...Keith, right?”

“Keith.” He nodded, still weary of the girl. The van was driving away now, charting them off to places unknown, and he prayed her intentions were as pure as her father’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Look at us, trying something different! I'm actually really excited for this story! Cyberpunk isn't something I've written before, so I hope you guys like it!!!
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: This story will be one of the longer ones but we hope you'll enjoy it <3 Just out of curiosity, would you guys want me to draw art for this? I decided not to I figured I could ask you nevertheless. Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think and if you liked the first chapter <3 We'd really appreciate it <3
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	2. Red and Blue

_The facility was a cold place, unloving and ruthless to those imprisoned within it. Lance was sure that if he didn’t have Keith and Uncle Sam with him then the person he was today would be completely different. Perhaps the facility would have sucked the life out of him till he became an emotionless individual who wouldn’t laugh even if someone told the best joke in existence._

_Yeah, a lot of things would have been different._

_He remembers Uncle Sam humming beside him as he sat, offering his hand to the man as he gently tied a string around it, preparing to take a blood sample. “Uncle Sam?” A younger Lance asked, his bare feet swinging side to side in the large chair. “I’m scared.”_

_“Don’t worry Lance. I promise that I’ll be extra careful. You won’t feel a thing.” Sam promised, aware that the child was scared, especially of needles. When it came to taking blood, Subject 004 had always managed to bear it the best among the two of them. “Tell you what.” Sam leaned in with a smile on his face, “If you manage to bear with it, I’ll give you an extra chocolate bar. You could share it with 004 back in your room.”_

_Lance’s face lit up at that, “R-Really? You will?”_

_“Of course.” Sam reached into his pocket, taking out a chocolate bar he knew was there, “See? I’m a man of my word.”_

_Upon seeing the chocolate, Lance nodded his head rapidly, “Deal!”_

_“Alright now.” Sam gently raised his arm up, “Could you do a little exercise for me? Just move your hand up and down for me, just like you did the last time.” Sam demonstrated and Lance nodded, copying his movement._

_“W-Will it hurt? What if it hurts real bad?” He asked with a frown._

_“I promised it wouldn’t, didn’t I? And if you turn around, you won’t feel a thing.” Sam assured while Lance tilted his head away so that he wasn’t looking at Sam or his hand._

_“I don’t want it to hurt.” Lance was unsure, not daring to look as Sam began humming to himself. The song caught Lance’s attention, listening to it while trying to distract himself. Then when Sam began singing instead, Lance asked, “What is that?”_

_“The song?” Sam hummed, “It’s called ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ by Mr. Keith Urban. It’s one of my favourite songs.”_

_The child quirked a brow, almost tempted to look back at Sam, “But I like blue. It’s pretty.”_

_Sam chuckled in response, focusing on drawing the blood, unbeknownst to Lance. “It’s the name of the song. I wasn’t trying to say that you don’t like blue Lance. I know it’s your favourite colour.”_

_“And 004 likes red!” Lance made a point to say, “But blue is prettier. I like it more.”_

_“Hmmm… Everyone has their own color they like. In my opinion, they’re both pretty.” Sam noted while Lance frowned to himself._

_“I bet Keith doesn’t like blue, just like 004!” The child pouted, looking at some of the tools that were placed to his side, “Meanies.”_

_Sam chuckled, moving his hand away, “They’re quite alike then, but more than not liking blue, I think he’s trying to say that it doesn’t suit someone, or maybe himself.”_

_“004 would do the same.” Lance pouted again, It was then that an idea hit him, “What if I call 004 Keith? They both don’t like blue so…”_

_Sam perked up at that, eyes moving onto the child before a smile spread throughout his face, “I think that’s a fantastic idea. I’m sure 004 would love it.”_

_“Really?” Lance asked in confusion, finally turning his head to Sam, “He would?”_

_“Tremendously.” Sam assured, untying the cloth from Lance’s hand. This was the time when the child noticed five small tubes of blood on the table, looking at his hand in surprise._

_“It’s done?” He asked._

_“All done.” Sam nodded, pushing himself and his chair to a different part of the table, putting the tubes into a circular stand. “Commencing transportation sequence.” Sam pressed a button and all of a sudden all of the tubes of blood were gone._

_“Received.” A voice sounded in reply, confirming that the blood samples reached their intended destination. Sam rolled himself back to Lance, standing up from his chair before helping the boy back down, “Now you can go back to Keith and share the chocolate bar.” He took it out again, giving it to a beaming Lance. “Then you can tell him what name you picked for him.”_

_“Okay!” Lance agreed, anxiously walking by Sam’s side as they passed by the corridors, heading back to Lance and Keith’s room. The walk back wasn’t that long as their room was close to the testing labs, making it convenient for the researchers to come and go without having to walk the extra mile._

_Reaching their door, Lance’s smile widened. He waited for Sam to open the metal door before running inside, but once he entered, he didn’t see the other boy anywhere. Then he felt hands envelop him from the back in a tight hug, “You said you’d come back soon.” Smaller Keith complained, “Too long.”_

_“Sorry.” Lance apologised, gently pushing Keith so that he could turn towards him. He looked mischievously at the other, taking out his chocolate bar, “But look what Uncle Sam gave me! We can share!”_

_Keith looked at the item, eyes lighting up as soon as he saw the chocolate bar. “Gimme!”_

_“W-Wait! I gotta open it.” Lance tore at the package, and as soon as he got to the chocolate, Keith had already managed to snatch a piece. “Hey! No fair!”_

_The pale child hummed contently, “So good…”_

_“Let me try.” Lance took a piece, moaning out in satisfaction, “It’s good!”_

_“I’m glad you both like it.” Sam walked into the room, kneeling down beside them and patting them both on their heads, “003? Will you tell 004 what you decided to name him?”_

_“Name?” The small pale child blinked, turning to his companion. Lance nodded at Sam before happily turning to Keith._

_“I-I want to call you Keith.” Lance said looking to the side, “Keith is a person who doesn’t like blue and you don’t like blue too so it fits!”_

_“Blue is pretty.” The pale boy frowned, “I just like red more.”_

_“But I think blue is the bestest colour! And the other person doesn’t like it so… I want to call you Keith from now on. I-It’s… your new name. Do you like it?” Lance looked up at him again, noting the surprised look on Keith’s face._

_“S-So… not 004?”_

_“Nope! You’re Keith.” Lance took his hand, a smile on his face, “I think it suits you. I like it.”_

_“Keith…” The child spoke the name, “Keith… Keith.” He repeated again, a soft smile appearing on his face, “I like it.”_

_Lance couldn’t hold himself back, throwing himself onto the other and capturing him into a hug, “Keith! I’m glad you like it Keith.”_

_Sam smiled beside, watching them interact before speaking up, “Now you’ll have to think of a name for 003 Keith. You don’t have to do it now, but think carefully about what name you will want to give him.”_

_“Me? Really?” Keith asked in surprise, unsure._

_“Of course. I’m sure you’ll come up with a good name.” Sam placed his hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “003 is counting on you.”_

_“Yeah! My name will be really cool! Just like Keith’s name!” Lance squeezed the other, feeling Keith’s own arms return the hug._

_The memory slowly began to fade at this point, Lance’s blue eyes opening to find himself in his bed, back in his bedroom. He groaned, tilting his head to the side and looking out into his room. It was his room… He was safe._

_He touched his forehead, fighting the headache that was there. Then the memories came back… The arena… Keith… The memory of it made him sit up, throwing the covers off himself before hearing a yelp to his side. “Ah!”_

“Ah!” Lance jumped up, pulling on the covers again to see Romelle sitting down on a chair next to the bed, leaning her upper body against it, probably fell asleep while waiting for him to wake up. “Romelle! Where’s Allura?”

The blonde girl rubbed at her eyelids, willing herself to wake up, “She’s out in the living room.” But then as she was slowly coming to, she remembered what happened, ‘You should check out the news. That’ll explain everything.”

“The news?” Lance quirked a brow, pressing a button on his bracelet before a large holoscreen appeared before them, showing the anchor seated in the studio with images of the colosseum showing in the back. Queen Luxia was seated in her chair, holding a holoscreen of her own in hand as she faced the camera.

“-ampion Takashi Shirogane and fellow arena fighter and younger brother Thunderstorm Darkness, who has been identified as Keith Kogane, have been declared as part of Galra’s Most Wanted. The two are armed and dangerous, earning an arrest on sight warrant from the police. Orders for the capture of Keith Kogane have been given. President Zarkon of the Galra expressed great concern about they boy’s mysterious attack on the arena, and advises all citizens to remain calm and contact the local authorities if you see this mysterious terrorist.”

Luxia pulled up an image of a tanned brunette with glasses, “Takashi Shirogane’s fiacé, Adam West, has been taken in for interrogation. Thus far the man has divulged no new information about the whereabouts of Takashi Shirogane nor Keith Kogane. Mr. West claims to be ignorant of any plans for acts of terrorism by either party. In other news, Lotor-”

Lance waved away the news report, deciding to search the web for what he wanted instead. He went straight towards the news blogs and punched in the name given by Luxia. In less than a tick an image popped up. Lance sucked in a breath, his heart pounding in his chest as the picture of a _very_  familiar boy popped up.

It was him. It was Keith. Just as Lance remembered him from so long ago; with the same damn mullet and the same weirdly purple eyes. He was a bit different now, older, more tired looking, with the baby fat Lance remembered having died down to become angular and a bit sharper. And he looked good in that v-neck shirt, shoulders squared, face set and determined. There was no doubt that this could be anyone but his Keith.

The tanned boy sucked in a breath, the tears welling a bit as he just stared at the photo. Twelve years, it had been twelve years since he’d woken up to find Keith gone, twelve years of tears and worry. Twelve years of not knowing. Twelve years of his last memory of Keith, tiny and shaking in blankets next to him, dwarfed further by the large men that were wrapping him up and lifting them from their beds, neither of them able to fight off the sleep that was coming, and only a quiet “I love you Lance” leaving his best friend’s lips with a little lisp before the tanned child closed his eyes and never saw him again.

“It’s him Romelle.” Lance’s voice shook. It wasn’t the only thing shaking, his whole body vibrated with barely contained emotion, blue eyes blurring as he stared at the image in front of him. He reached up, trying to touch it, but his hand just passed through the image, blurring it until he moved it and the holoscreen fell back into place. He sniffed, not sure what else to do. Keith hadn’t felt so close since that night, yet here he was, “It’s really him.”

Romelle chewed on her bottom lip nervously, “I know. Allura determined that it couldn’t be anyone else. She’s trying to figure out what to do.”

“We have to find him.” Lance shot up, throwing the blankets off and sliding off his bed. He stumbled a bit, feeling woozy, and had to stop for a second to clutch his head. Romelle shot up, rushing to his side and grabbing his arm to hold him up, “Careful!”

“We don’t have time, we have to find him.” Lance shook the fatigue off, trying to step towards the door to his room, “If we don’t find him then someone else will. We can’t let that happen.”

“Lance, calm down.” Romelle circled in front of him, pushing at his chest with open palms to try and stop him, “I understand your urgency, but there’s nothing we can do.”

“That’s not true. There are things we _can_  do.” Lance wouldn’t have anyone say otherwise. He gently pushed Romelle’s hand away, aiming for the door, “There are _a lot_  of things we can do.”

The blonde girl panicked, rounding on him one more time, “I know that this is super important to you, and I know just how much you’ve wanted to see him all these years but we have to be careful. It’s been eight hours since the incident and they haven’t caught Keith yet. I don’t know where he is, but he’s managed to hide all this time. He’s safe for now.”

Lance felt his head throb, raising his hand up to his forehead. He thought of the facility and then the image of Keith being taken back there… He can’t let that happen. Never. “It’s only a matter of time before they find him. There’s no escape, especially from someone like Zarkon.”

If the man was as he remembered him, then he will undoubtedly find Keith. 

“I have to go see Allura.” Lance moved, pushing the door open with a fretting Romelle in front of him. He walked past her, coming out into the vast luxurious living room.

“Oh! Young lad! You’re awake!” Coran called from the kitchen, wearing an apron with a spatula in hand. “How are you feeling?”

“With everything that happened? _Terrible_.” Lance looked around, not seeing Allura anywhere, “Keith is now a wanted man and is in danger of going back to the facility. How can I be anything but utterly terrified?”

“Well…” Coran hummed, “I’m sure that Keith managed to find a hiding place.” Although Coran did look more than concerned, “Allura is already trying to see what she can do to find him. She’s in her office.”

“Thanks.” Lance thanked him, heading over to the room. He didn’t knock before opening the door, finding Allura seated at her desk, typing on her keyboard.

“You should have knocked.” Romelle reminded but Lance ignored her, walking into the room while Allura looked up from her screen.

“Lance, you’re awake.” She faced him fully, guilty for what she had done. “I’m so sorry for doing what I did, but I’m afraid I had no other choice. I couldn’t let the government take notice of you, especially not at a time like this.”

“But they took notice of Keith.” Lance walked further inside, seating himself on a chair in front of Allura’s desk, “And now he’s in danger. We have to do something to help him. Anything.”

“Of course.” Allura nodded, flipping her holoscreen over to him, “I’m trying to see if I can track his ID but so far I’ve had no luck. There have been a few traces of gathered dark matter in two areas but I believe it’s possibly due to Keith using his power to fight off enemies.”

“So he already had to fight someone.” Lance brought his hands together on his lap, squeezing, “Do you think it’s the police? Zarkon’s men?” Lance knew that a lot of people would be after him but…only those who _knew_  about them would risk anything to get their hands on Keith.

He and Keith were special.

They were the _future_  as the scientists in the facility called them. But, they were nothing but objects to them. Retrieving Keith would be nothing more than getting back something they lost. They didn’t care what he might feel, or the fact that he doesn’t want to go back there at all. They don’t care.

“I don’t know.” Allura was honest, as she usually was with him. That was the one thing he loved about Allura, that they could talk openly with each other, understand each other. “The last known dark matter that gathered was detected five hours ago. Since they didn’t find him yet, I think that he managed to escape for now.”

“For now…” Lance breathed, “What can we do?”

Allura, understanding what Lance was trying to say flipped the holoscreen back to herself, “If we dig into government computers, they might notice. I could use the resources I have but even then I can’t arouse suspicion.” A worried look appeared on her face, “Do you remember what I told you about a man named Sendak?”

“Yeah. Zarkon’s right hand man.” Lance huffed.

“Yes. He was there during the meeting between Lotor and me this afternoon. I believe… I’m unsure about this, but I do think that Zarkon suspects me of working against him, or more precisely Lotor.”

“Lotor? I know he has a history of going against his daddy but is it that bad?” Lance asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It is, and he suspects me of working with Lotor behind his back. If I draw attention to myself, it may lead them to you.” Allura leaned back against her chair, “We’ll have to be discreet about this.”

“I know, I know.” Lance brushed his hands through his hair, stressed by the information, “We don’t want them to set their sights on me too, I get that. But right now _Keith_  is the one they’re hunting down. I’ll be fine, they’ve got no reason to suspect me yet, but everyone knows what he looks like now.”

“It is not that simple Lance.” Allura frowned, “Now that they have sights on Keith and are actively looking for him, then they may have something that can trace the dark matter usage around you. Or worse, they could have something to trace the elemental zero nodes in your body. I know you want to help Keith, but you _have_  to keep your head down now.”

Lance’s jaw clenched shut, the frustration and helplessness spreading hot through his chest, “What am I supposed to do?”

“The best thing you can do for Keith now is lay low and wait until I can find some trace of him.” Allura proposed, leaning forward to stare seriously into his eyes, “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but we’re better off doing this discreetly and under the table as they say.”

“What?” Lance demanded, balling his fists, “I can’t just sit here and do nothing while Keith is being hunted down like a dog!”

“You’re not doing nothing Lance, you’re making sure the research centers don’t have _two_  biotics on their hands.” Allura stated coldly, matter of factly, “What do you think will happen if they get their hands on _both_  of you? No one has been able to successfully recreate Samuel Holts’ design. If they get their hands on one of you they won’t risk losing their weapon yet. If they get their hands on both of you…”

Lance swallowed. He knew. He knew very fucking well what they’d do. He still remembers what they did when he and Keith were still there, back when Uncle Sam was alive. He also remembered the days leading up to their escape, the things the other researchers had been whispering about.

The things the witch lady wanted…

He shivered.

The other kids, numbers one through twenty-five, they all used to call her Old Haggar, after the witch from Uncle Sam’s book. Now that he escaped he knew her name was really Dr. Honerva Galra, Zarkon’s wife. But when he thought of her he could only remember huddling with Keith in a corner, hiding between all the other kids while they shared horror stories of what happened when she got her long claws on them. She was the worst, the worst of the worst.

“He can’t go back there Allura.” Lance broke a bit, leaning against the edge of her desk, ready to drop to his knees and beg if he had to, “He can’t.”

“He’s not going to.” Allura stated firmly, her shoulder squared and lips set in a thin line, resolve strong, “I’ve already sent trusted agents undercover to the last area his dark matter usage was detected, as well as near his home, with any luck we should be able to find a lead on his location.”

It was little comfort, but Lance figured it was the best he was going to get. He nodded, not at all satisfied with the answer, but it wasn’t like he had a better way to track Keith right now. If he did he’d have found the other boy a long time ago. So he swallowed his pride and nodded, knowing that it was better to listen to her for now and bide his time.

Allura would find Keith. If anyone could it would be her. And the moment she did he’d be in a car and speeding towards the other boy with everything he had. He just needed to be more patient than he’d ever been. In the meantime he would do what he could to make sure everything was ready for when they _did_  find Keith.

Lance nodded, trying to reassure himself with the thought, “Thanks Allura.”

It wasn’t what he wanted, and he wasn’t happy, but it would do for now.

 

* * *

 

Adam had known what he was getting into when he agreed to marry Takashi Shirogane.

Well, technically _he_  was the one to propose, but that was moot. The point was that he’d known about Keith and his dark past well before he took a knee and popped the question to the love of his live. While he had reservations over the rather illegal and serious secret when he first found out, he also had known Keith for a long time by then and had grown incredibly fond of the kid by then. Keith, the little brat, had wriggled his way into Adam’s heart with his adorable obliviousness and his moody pouts.

It didn’t help that he was a sucker for a sad backstory, and it didn’t get much sadder than being an orphan who never met his parents and was forced to be taken in by a biological aunt who hadn’t even known about him. Then Takashi had taken him aside and one-upped that sad backstory by explaining that Keith, while actually an orphan cousin that turned up out of nowhere, also happened to be an escaped scientific experiment that was dropped off at their doorstep by a group of mysterious people they’d never found more information on.

And gosh, what was Adam supposed to do? _Not_  adopt the kid?

So, yeah, he'd known what he was getting into when he’d agreed to marry Shiro. He had prepared himself to give up a lot of money and carry the secret to his grave. He’d gone over many scenarios in his head, replayed many what-if cases. Pre-prepared responses had been gone over and turned around in his mind hundreds of times. And he’d even accepted the fact that, no matter how well his office job paid, Shiro and Keith would _have_  to fight in that dreadful arena in order to afford the cloaking device that kept his pseudo-son safe.

That all said, he was in no way prepared for Keith to out himself on live stream, in the middle of the arena, in front of the entire world.

Adam had been at work when it happened, so he wasn’t privy to seeing it go downhill. He’d sat in blissful unawareness for about two and a half hours before word had finally gotten to him. That took the form of the police, after they stormed his office and placed him under arrest for suspicion for aiding and abetting terrorism.

By now the man had seen the clip dozens of times. The stream playing on loop over and over while they interrogated him. Unfortunately for them Adam had been prepared for a possible interrogation for years and refused to give them anything. It was fortunate for him that he hadn’t been in the arena that day, because he could play perfectly ignorant and wasn’t even lying when he told them that he had no idea where his family had gone.

The police scoffed, as if _he_  was the one in the room whose life had been ruined.

Years of sitting in front of the mirror and practicing his story had paid off, and he went through the lie detection test with a straight face and a steady heart, not even a flutter in his chest. It was a hollow victory, but it was the best he could do.

So now, here he was, in his townhouse apartment and all alone. It felt so empty here without Takashi and Keith. The sun was setting now, and he was left here to worry while they were out there somewhere, no idea if they were able to hide Keith yet, no calls, and no idea if they were close to getting caught or not.

He had that one clip playing on loop over and over again. The holo-TV firmly on the news where they were replaying the same information. There’d been an interview with Lotor Galra at some point, a quick statement by Zarkon’s PR manager, and some flashes of Allura Alteanis fleeing the colosseum, but nothing substantial.

Reporters had surrounded the apartment for hours, effectively angering all of his neighbors and ruining his relationships with some he’s sure. They tried to chase them off while he hid inside, but it was just no use.

Occasionally the news would switch over to one of the reporters outside his house, and they would repeat the same thing about him hiding inside and refusing to come out. Sometimes they would have a new neighbor giving an opinion on Keith and Shiro, and it was here that Adam officially constructed a list of which neighbors were invited to BBQs from now on and which ones were banned from ever interacting with them again.

He hugged a pillow to his chest.

It’s funny; all it took to ruin his life was just a second of lost control. Just one wrong placed punch, not even the worst looking punch Keith had ever taken, and now he was on edge and wondering if he’d lost the two most important people in his life.

 

* * *

 

One of the other kids in the facility, Subject 021, had been a really big and bitter kid. He was a little older than the rest of them, enough to vaguely remember his mom and dad. He called himself Rax, because he thought it sounded cool, and named himself the leader of the subjects.

Rax used to tell them half remembered stories from his mom and dad, but he’d only been about two when he was taken so his memory couldn’t be trusted for anything, and what little he knew was gone by the time the rest of the kids were old enough to form questions. So a lot of Rax’s stories weren’t as accurate. Then they disappeared altogether by the time he was six. Still, he’d never quite let go of the fact that he knew he _used_  to have parents, and that bit of knowledge was what sparked the hope in the more optimistic subjects.

Keith hadn’t been one of them at first, not really, because in his tiny mind having _had_  parents once didn’t matter when you didn’t know who they were or if they wanted you. Afterall, Rax claimed he had parents and he still ended up in the labs. He wasn’t even entirely sure what parents _were_  at first, because Rax hadn’t been able to give a clear definition.

Back when they had nurses, before they were all fired for trying to throw the kids a conjoined “birthday party” and bringing in “cake” and “toys” for them, he’d worked up the courage to ask what parents were. After a few moments of what he would later learn was wide-eyed horror and disbelief the nurse he’d asked set him down and explained moms and dads and how they loved you and hugged you.

Keith had, of course, taken this new discovery to his best friend and shared it with him in whispers beneath the blanket of their bed they weren’t technically supposed to share, giggling about the promises of how great parents were and how much they wished they had them. Lance, of course, had to share the news with the others next time the subjects were put together to mingle, effectively filling in the blanks of what parents were.

Now, in the present, Keith couldn’t help but marvel as he finally put together that Uncle Sam was a parent. Yes, he objectively knew that Uncle Sam likely had family outside of the labs, and he also realized that Uncle Sam was probably the closest thing to a parent he had before being dropped off at his aunt’s house, but it only just really registered with him now.

He hadn’t been sure what he was imagining the rebel base to be like. Alright, that was a lie. He’d imagined some abandoned warehouse or something lined with a secret room filled wall to wall with technology. What he hadn’t expected was a nice house beneath a protective biodome, a full on garden in view and an honest to god tree.

Not only was the outside nice, but so was the inside. It was painted with colors that were easy on the eyes, nice furniture was everywhere, there was an elegant looking tea set on the table. Pictures of the family lined the walls, the frames switching the digital images every couple of minutes, and there was even an honest to god _painting_.

It was so...quaint.

Shiro seemed as dazed as he was. The mom, Mrs. Holt, Uncle Sam’s _wife_  Colleen, had seated them on the living room couch and poured them tea in those fancy little cups. Keith was too intimidated to turn it down, so he took a rudimentary sip and squirmed awkwardly while Pidge and the brother, Matt, stampeded to their rooms where all their tech was. This left poor Hunk to explain to...Mrs. Holt?...Auntie Colleen?...what had happened and who they were.

So now, here they were, sitting on an unfairly comfortable couch, tea in hand, and a woman Keith feared way more than he needed to while they waited for Pidge and Matt to get their stuff and...he didn’t know...take them to the real rebel base? This couldn’t be where she planned to hide them for damn sure, even if the house was in a private dome and unseen by outsiders.

“How do you like the tea?” Keith flinched when he heard Colleen ask, turning his head to face her. He fidgeted in his seat, nervous as he answered. “It’s good. I like it.”

Colleen smiled at that, holding the now empty tray in her hands, “That’s a relief. I could bake you some cookies if you’d like. It would go well with the tea.” She offered, making both Shiro and Keith a bit uncomfortable.

“Thank you for the offer, but we wouldn’t want to trouble you.” Shiro wasn’t as affected as Keith was, but that was because he didn’t know Sam Holt. The dawning reality that this was Uncle Sam’s wife was hard to take in, and it made his interactions with Colleen that much more awkward. Not to mention that this was most likely where Uncle Sam lived while he wasn’t in the facility.

He was seeing a whole different side of Uncle Sam that he didn’t know about and it was…a bit strange. He’d always been in the facility within his memories, surrounded by nothing but cold metal walls on all sides. Imagining him back here…in this house…it was strange.

“It’s no trouble at all.” Colleen assured with a soft smile on her face, “Tell you what, I’ll begin baking them right now.”

“T-Thank you.” Keith replied, receiving another smile in return. The way Colleen looked back at him told him that she must be aware of his situation. She knew everything, if the way her eyes looked over at him worriedly was anything to go by. He could see it all in her face alone, that she knew about everything her husband did, and just what part he played in her husband’s life.

It went unsaid but he could tell that by her appearance alone, making their encounter even more awkward. He felt her hand on his shoulder, looking up and meeting her hazel eyes once again, “Don’t worry, you’re safe here. The doors of our home are always open to you.”

Keith paused for a moment, surprised by the words as he tried to process them. He didn’t know what to say, silently nodding in return. That was enough for Colleen to make her leave, walking into the kitchen to busy herself with making cookies.

This gave Keith some space to breathe, looking over at Hunk who was seated on the opposite couch of Shiro and him. He noticed the other staring at him, not making the effort to hide it at all. “What is it?” Keith asked while Hunk blinked.

“S-Sorry man.” The rebel sat up, “I’m just… This all feels so surreal. You have no idea how many years we’ve been searching for you, and now you’re just… here. It’s hard to process.”

“Keith is a presence to behold.” Shiro teased, trying to lighten up the tense mood and making the pale boy frown. “But whether we’re staying here or not depends on what you’ll tell us.”

“Right.” Hunk fidgeted in his seat, “Pidge and Matt will explain everything when they get all their stuff. Trust me, they have a lot to say.”

“Damn right we do!” Pidge called out from the staircase, coming down with a bunch of devices in her hand, most of which Keith could make out as holoscreens and other devices used for storage space. “We’re here to talk business.”

“And more business.” Matt emerged behind her, carrying his own fair share of hardware. When they both walked up to the table in the middle, they didn’t waste any time dumping everything down. Pidge sighed tiredly, seating herself down on the ground so that she could sort out the mess.

“We have _a lot_  to talk about. I have a lot of stuff that will help you in answering some of your questions. While dad wasn’t allowed to spread information about the facility to the outside world, he did manage to leave some notes behind. He entrusted those to me and Matt, and I have them with me right now.” Pidge turned to face Keith, “A lot of the information in those notes is about you.”

The pale boy watched in surprise as Pidge and Matt continued sorting their things out, hands clenched as he eyed the equipment, “W-What kind of information do you have?”

“Dates, some analysis, photos, videos and a couple of voice recordings. All of those dad managed to gather secretly while he was in the labs.” Pidge paused, finally settling a holoscreen in front of her, “But before I can trust you with any of these, we have to talk about our current situation.”

Shiro and Keith looked at one another, sending silent messages between them. A lot was on the line but with the prospect of getting all this information, it was hard to say no. Still, they didn’t want to come off as desperate so they played it cool, “How can we trust that all of that information is really Sam Holt’s work? For all we know, you may be lying to us.” Shiro said, three pairs of eyes on him.

“Would we really risk our lives trying to save you if it wasn’t true?” Matt was the one who spoke up this time, “We want to preserve our father’s legacy and end what he began. You…” He turned to Keith, “Are a vital part of what our father tried to protect. You symbolise everything he worked on and so much more. There’s no way we would be lying to you about any of this.”

“Trust is hard to come by.” Keith said softly.

“Then I’ll show you proof.” Pidge switched on her holoscreen, typing before moving it to face Shiro and Keith. “This is part of what my father left behind.” She pressed a button and as she did, a grainy image emerged, then cleared up to show two blurry faces.

“More books?” Upon hearing the familiar voice, Keith’s breath hitched. His eyes were glued on the holoscreen, pushing himself closer towards it.

“We can read more stories!” He heard his own voice, the blurry image slowly clearing up to show his younger self, and then Lance beside him. The two kids were sitting next to each other, Lance smiling with Keith seated beside him, covered by a blanket with a book on both their laps.

“Yes, I hope you’ll both like it.” Sam’s voice sounded, and by the angle of the camera, Keith could tell that it was somewhere on his shirt, discreetly hidden out of view.

“Let’s re-” The recording cut, startling Keith who quickly looked over at Pidge.

“Do you believe us now?” She asked, worried but also a bit guilty that she had no other choice but to show the recording to get their trust. She wouldn’t have done it, but it had to be done to prove that her and Matt were the real deal

Keith stared blankly where the holoscreen once was. The image of two chubby faces burned into his eyes. It was funny, in a way. He remembered Lance a bit different. Chubbier, maybe, his mind filling in the blanks where his memory failed. Apparently twelve years was enough to forget things. He thought his memory of Lance, thought, was clear.

But no, the two of them had been much thinner than he remembered. Much smaller. Lance’s hair was a horrible undercut and half of Keith’s head had been shaved from a surgery, leaving the other half of his head with long hair. He’d forgotten those horrible haircuts, given to them after the rest of the kids died, making them the only two left. He and Lance were the only successes. 

“Keith?” Shiro asked, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

“I didn’t realize he had cameras.” Keith spoke, tilting his head, “That was clever.” 

Pidge nodded, pushing one of the boxes forward. Her eyes were set, confident, her head nodding as the box slid forward. The box wasn’t labeled, but it was clear that it was filled with binders of external recordings that Sam must have used as a backup, or as the sole source of his recordings. Pidge’s eyes met his, that steely gaze unblinking, “My father recorded nearly every moment he had with you two. Tests, private moments, signs of the...abuse...you suffered. I have a lot here, but a lot of it is corrupted or doesn’t make sense.”

Shiro frowned at that, “So, what? Do you want Keith to fill in the blanks?”

“That’s part of it.” Matt shifted nervously, his legs bouncing and his hands drumming his knees, “It would definitely be helpful in stringing together what happened leading up to your escape.”

“But that’s not all.” Keith eyed them suspiciously.

“No.” Pidge shook her head, eyes still confidently locked on his, “It’s not.” 

There was a wave of silence that washed over them, thick like a miasma. Keith fiddled with his teacup, watching the drink twirl within the porcelain, his own stony face staring back at him. Shiro was tense beside him, wound up and ready to bolt if he needed to. His arm should be powerful enough to break through a biodome, but somehow the younger boy didn’t think that would be necessary.

Pidge finally broke the silence after a few more moments, “We want to continue our father’s work.” 

Shiro tensed more, “You want to make more biotics like Keith?” 

“That would certainly be interesting.”  Pidge adjusted her glasses, “But not what I was thinking at all.”

“What Pidge is trying to say is…” Hunk, who had remained mostly silent throughout everything, spoke, “...is that we thinking more along the lines of exposing what the government did to you to the public and taking them down so you can be free and not have to worry about anything…?”

 _That_  caused the two brothers to pause.

Keith blinked, bewildered and more than a little baffled. He gave the group a good once over, trying to gauge _how_  they came to the conclusion that was in any way a good idea. He couldn’t, so he told them so, “That’s a _terrible_  idea.”

“My father died getting you and Subject 003 out of the Research Center.” Pidge’s voice took on an edge now, knife sharp and unforgiving.

Keith inhaled sharply. He heard Shiro do the same beside him. In the years that followed he _did_ wonder what had happened to Uncle Sam. It was impossible to find anything on Lance, but Uncle Sam had apparently been a public figure, he was an important figure working in District Four and the Research Center. Years after the fact, when he was old enough to figure out how to search the networks and could be trusted not to expose himself, he’d looked up the place of his trauma and worked himself into a panic attack in the process, leaving him a screaming mess in the corner of his shared room with Shiro. His aunt nearly busting down the door with Shiro hot on her heels. He’d been banned from looking up the Center after that, with Aunt Aki going as far as to put parental controls on his bracelet and blocking the whole site.

One of the few things he remembers seeing on the front page was the Sam Holt Memorial Statue, to commemorate the tragic passing of one of the world’s leading scientists in a lab accident.

Even then a part of him knew that was bullshit.

Keith closed his eyes, exhauling, “I thought so.”

“Then you understand.” Pidge leaned forward her eyes still steely, “You have to get it. He died for y-”

“What my sister is trying to say is…” Matt pushed her to the side, shoving his hand over her mouth and taking over her speech, “Is that dad cared about you Keith. He cared about you a _lot_ , both of you...you’re...you’re...you’re basically _family_  as far as he was concerned. And if he had to make the choice between saving you and saving himself then he wouldn’t even _hesitate_  to save you again. We Holts are like that, family comes first no matter what. That’s why we’re doing this. We want justice for dad, yeah, but we want justice for you too. We take care of each other.”

“So what? You’re trying to say that we’re family?” Keith asked, uneasy and taken aback by the older Holt sibling’s words. They were both Uncle Sam’s children, sure, but as far as they went, they didn’t know anything about each other at all. No, the two of them probably knew a whole lot more about Keith than he knew about them. 

“Dad loved you.” Matt’s expression changed, “He wasn’t allowed to talk about anything related to the facility but he would always tell us about you. He was always so fond when he talked about you and Subject 003. He saw you as his own children, and I’m sure that in his eyes, you wer-AWWW!”

The older sibling screamed when Pidge bit on his fingers, pulling the abused hand away. “I have things to say.” She narrowed her eyes at her brother who whined while holding the hand close to his chest.

She turned to Keith, folding her arms, “Look, I know this is all sudden and I get it. If I were you, I would be scared shitless right now. I’m scared even now, knowing that the no.1 most wanted person is in my house, my safe area. Our decision to take you here should be proof that we mean business.”

Pidge’s hazel eyes scanned both Keith and Shiro’s forms, “You probably don’t believe us, or are suspicious of us and that’s okay. If you weren’t, I’d think something was wrong. You don’t have to accept us as family or anything like that but it still won’t change the way we see you.” She focused her attention on Keith.

“We have evidence right here.” She pointed to the table full of different kinds of items, “This should be enough to prove that we are who we say we are. Nobody else would be able to obtain all this information, not even the president himself. Sure you could say it’s all fake but that’s your call to make.”

“And what would you gain from all this?” Shiro asked, genuinely curious, “The way I see it, you’d be risking much more by helping us than getting anything in return.”

“As we said, we want to continue my father’s work. We want the truth about the experiments to come out so that the world can see what a shitty government rules our society.” Pidge said.

Keith remained in place, thinking things over before his eyes drifted to Hunk. “If you both want to continue Uncle Sam’s work, then why are you here?” He asked, gaining the bulkier boy’s attention.

“Me?” Hunk asked, suddenly fidgeting in his seat, “I have my own reasons for joining Pidge. I may not be directly involved myself, but I know someone whose sibling was involved in the program.”

Keith blinked, “You mean the other kids?”

“Yeah.” And Hunk nodded, “Do you remember a boy named Rax?”

“I do.” Keith nodded, pulling on his memories of the boy in question. Rax, the oldest of the children in the facility.

“He was my girlfriend’s older brother.” Hunk spoke softly, bringing his hands together to rest them on his lap, “More than twelve years ago, Rax was diagnosed with a kidney stone and had to go into surgery. They told his family that he passed during the operation, but in reality they’d taken him to the facility. What’s even more messed up is that he was healthy all along.”

Keith hummed, nodding, “Some of the children were taken from their families like that, but some of us were born there. Just like Lance and I…” He felt a reassuring squeeze from Shiro on his shoulder, appreciating the gesture.

“Right.” Hunk agreed, “They didn’t know what happened to him but then Pidge came along and showed me that he was actually taken to the facility. It’s a long story but that’s why I’m here. I can’t just sit by knowing about what happened. All those kids… They deserved better.”

“They did.” Shiro agreed.

The room became silent for a minute, the clock ticking on the wall just next to the kitchen door. Pidge sighed, gathering herself before looking up at Keith again, “Whether you believe us or not is up to you. I don’t expect you to trust us right away, but I hope that what we have here gives you _some_  proof that we mean everything we say. We have _a lot more_  to show you, so if you decide to cooperate with us, we can get to the bottom of this messed up project and the facility you grew up in. We have information that’ll help you move forward, and figure out what happened that made your biometrics go haywire in front of the president’s son and the rest of the world.”

Shiro and Keith both looked at one another in confusion, then turned back to Pidge, “You know what happened during my fight?” The pale boy asked, eyeing the girl warily but also with a drop of a hopeful explanation as well.

“I have a theory about it.” Pidge confirmed, “And with everything I know about biometrics, I’m confident in it.”

“We both are.” Matt added, “We studied biometrics for years now but all we know is in theory. We couldn’t actually test anything.”

“But that’ll change if you help us.” Pidge added, “Don’t worry, we won’t do anything you wouldn’t like. The worst thing that can happen is taking a blood sample to inspect. Most of our research will be based on you doing tricks with your powers.”

“The government would pick up on that.” Shiro warned, “I’m not going to let them track Keith that easily.”

“They won’t be able to. Not with the safety precautions I have planned, but we can talk about that later.” Pidge assured, extending her hand towards them, “So what do you say we work together on this? If you want, you can turn and leave without ever coming back. But remember my words that if you do, you might never find what you’re looking for. All the answers to your questions about what really happened and why. All of it will stay a blank forever. We’re your best shot at surviving to boot so you’re free to make your choice.”

“I don’t give a shit about why it happened.” Keith brushed off, leaning back against the couch, “I decided a long time ago that there couldn’t possibly be a good enough reason for it, especially if...your father…didn’t think so.”

Keith sighed, brushing a hand through his hair tiredly, “But, the way I see it, you’re my best chance at survival.”

Shiro shifted next to him, side eying him, “Are you sure Keith?”

Keith nodded silently. He was pretty sure, or at least he trusted his instincts on the matter and he wasn’t getting a bad feeling about this. The situation _felt_  favorable, and it was probably better than any other option he had on hand, which was none. Pidge could probably push for more from them, because the Holts had a lot more to offer than he did right now, but he wasn’t about to point that out and lose footing. Still, he felt like he could trust them for now. Pidge was vengeful and determined, and Matt seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying about family earlier.

It suddenly occurs to him that these two probably grew up on stories about Lance and him, with videos a regularity in their lives. If Sam really recorded all his moments with Lance and him in the labs then these kids knew his favorite color, or favorite childhood story. In that light it was a bit more easy to believe that Matt really _did_  see him as something like a long lost brother finally come home. And Pidge, her want for justice was genuine, enough that she was doing all this.

Pidge’s pleased expression at his decision and Matt’s long sigh of relief were all the signs he needed that his intuition was right. Even Hunk seem to melt within his own seat at the news, his tense body finally unraveling. Pidge leaned forward, holding out a hand, “So we have a deal then?”

“Only if you don’t make me do anything I’m not comfortable with.” Keith reached over, grabbing her hand, “I’m not trading one lab for a slightly better one. If I say no to something you leave me alone about it.”

“Of course.” Matt readily nodded, “We’re not here to push you.”

“Now that we’ve decided to work together we should probably make sure to cloak you from the servers.” Pidge humed, pulling out two chips and holding them in her open palm, “Put this in, it’ll cloak you from the government for a while. I’ll need to update it for all of us regularly, but we should be safer with these.”

Shiro and Keith both plucked the chips from her hand. The older brother frowned, studying the small things suspiciously for a moment. He sighed after a while, looking like he’d aged ten years since this morning, finally plugging it into his bracelet with a resigned sigh. Keith shrugged nonchalantly, removing his old cloaking chip and tossing it onto the table before plugging his own in.

Keith twisted his bracelet around his wrist for a moment, watching the default purple lighting of it fade into green as the device’s IP address was hidden from servers. Violet eyes flickered over Pidge, watching the girl’s grin turn smug.

“Thanks.” He grunted.

Pidge let out a smug chuckle, “No problem. Just make sure to keep that plugged in and come to me if the lighting turns anything other than green. That’s how I keep track of when the chips stop working.”

Keith shrugged his shoulders, nodding. He turned towards Hunk then, remembering why he was there, “Rax is dead by the way. You probably knew that already considering that Lance and I are the only successful experiments. I think the element zero nodes in his skin blew up. It’s hard to remember who died of what back then, but I remember he was Subject 021 if you feel like trying to find out.”

Hunk closed his eyes shut, leaning against the couch before taking in a deep breath. He exhaled, keeping his eyes closed for a second before opening them again. “I knew he would be but I still had hope that he might be alive. With everything they did at the facility I thought there was a chance that Pidge’s intel was wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.” She took offense to that, “I’m sorry Hunk.” Although she did seem apologetic, “But at least now you and Shay can move on knowing that he’s really gone.”

“Yeah.” Hunk nodded, looking over at Keith, “Thanks man.”

“I’m sorry.” The pale boy apologised, not really sure what he could say.

“Not your fault.” Hunk pushed himself forward, suddenly realising that he’ll have to break the news to his girlfriend, “I should tell Shay about this but I really don’t want to. It would bring back bad memories.” The one thing he hated more than anything was seeing Shay cry. He’d do anything to avoid it but he knew that it had to be done, “Shay is great. I know you’ll take a shine to her.” He paused, noting the cautious look Shiro was giving him. “W-When we trust each other more of course!”

“I can try looking up what files I have about Subject 021.” Pidge suggested, doing just that as she raised her hand to type on the holoscreen, “Most of the intel I have is about Subject 003 and Subject 004 but there is _some_  information about the other kids as well.”

“Do you know what happened to them?” Shiro asked hesitantly.

Matt nodded in response, “We do have notes about them. They detail the important experiments they participated in and what changes were observed to their bodies. Most of the reports are detailed in the way they died, so that mistakes wouldn’t be repeated.”

“That may have helped both you and Subject 003 survive.” Pidge noted, eyes meeting Keith’s own, “There are many factors that contributed to your survival. First, your body’s acceptance and reaction to the biometrics, then it’s the modification you were exposed to while still in the womb. Then it’s what the researchers learned from observing other subjects. They made sure that the surviving experiments wouldn’t be casualties of the same design.”

What Pidge said made sense, but it still didn’t prevent Keith from feeling uneasy, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. He had a general idea of why the other kids passed but now guilt took root within him, blaming himself for surviving while others had to give up their lives for him to live.

He felt Shiro squeeze his shoulder again, helping him keep those thoughts at bay. “Maybe we can talk about that later.” The older man suggested, “Right now we need to focus on what we can do at the present time and why all of this happened. You said you have answers to all of this? We should talk about that.”

“Sure. Ehhhmmm…” Matt struggled.

“Takeshi Shirogane. You can call me Shiro.” Shiro extended his hand, shaking the three pirates’ hands.

“I’m Hunk Garrett by the way.” Hunk introduced himself, “You probably already knew that but I should introduce myself properly.”

“And you already know us.” Matt smiled, scratching the back of his head.

Pidge rolled her eyes, “By the way.” She turned to Keith again, “What’s with the surname? Did you make it up? An alias?”

The pale boy shook his head, sipping some of his tea, “Kogane is the surname of Aki’s brother. I’m suppose to be her nephew so it passes government radar.”

“Aki is my late mother.” Shiro added to avoid confusion, “We took Keith in and he became a part of our family from that day onward.”

“Interesting.” Pidge hummed, “One of the mysteries I’m trying to figure out is how you ended up where you did. I’ve been looking for you but I never managed to find anything.”

“It was really frustrating. Like searching for two needles in a haystack.” But all those years weren’t for nothing. If anything, they managed to decode a lot of the information their father left behind as well as trace some of the larger dark matter quantities in the city.

Shiro leaned back against the couch, “I don’t really know the full story myself. All I know is that someone came to her one day with Keith in their arms. She was hesitant to tell me who it was and never did in fear that their identity would be compromised.”

That caught the pirates’ attention, “What do you mean?” Hunk asked, “Were they scared the government would find them?”

“Most likely.” Shiro confirmed that.

“Aki was always super tight lipped about it.” Keith shrugged, wrinkling his nose a bit, “And I don’t remember too much because I was knocked out for most of it. She always promised she’d tell us when I was older, but she got really sick and died suddenly before she could.”

Pidge frowned at that, “There aren’t any notes of people who helped dad. I figured he couldn’t have gotten you out of there by himself, but I’ve got nothing. This is the first time I’ve had a hint that he _didn’t_  do this alone.”

“What do you two remember?” Matt leaned forward eagerly, “This is the most new info we’ve had in a while.”

Shiro and Keith both shared a look. By now Shiro had started taking tentative sips of his tea, figuring that they’d already gone this far and might as well get comfortable and start trying to trust each other now. The tea was lukewarm by now, and he grimaced, but he finished the cup all the same. When he was done he spoke, “I was about fourteen at the time. It was dark out, and I was up late playing a game when someone started pounding on our door like crazy. It was around three in the morning so it woke mom up and she rushed downstairs. We didn’t know what was going on, but I stayed on the stairs. I couldn’t see who was at the door, but I saw their legs. There were three of them, wearing black suits I think. Mom whispered a lot really fast, and I didn’t catch it all, but next thing I know she’s carrying Keith up the stairs and telling me that she’s apparently adopting.”

Keith shrugged, “It was my sixth birthday, Uncle Sam brought Lance and me some gifts. We had some tests done. Just a regular day with a bit more than normal. But then he gave us some cake and I started getting a little dizzy. Lance and I fell asleep after that.”

Keith paused for a moment, his brows knitted together as his hand came up to rub his chin, thinking deeply back on that day. “I was in and out for a bit, but I couldn’t move. I don’t remember much, but some people flooded the room before I passed out. They picked Lance and me up and I think I thought they were going to take us to more tests...but then I woke up at Shiro’s house.”

Matt and Shiro were sucking in the new information, adding it to the knowledge they already had of the event. “It makes sense. I always thought dad was working with someone on getting you out and this confirms it. I don’t think it would have been possible for him to escape alone, not in such a highly guarded facility.”

“We’re already experiencing the fruits of our cooperation.” Matt folded his hands confidently, “If dad was working with someone he never told us about it. Makes me think these people are super secretive in regards to their identity.”

“It matches up with Shiro’s story.” If Shiro’s mum didn’t want to say anything, then it meant that it was highly important for this to remain confidential. “But we’ll find them.” Pidge challenged, “They can’t hide from our investigation.”

“Investigation?” Shiro raised a brow.

“Yeah. We’re getting to the bottom of this, the _very_  pit of this mystery. I owe it to my dad.” Pidge cracked her fingers, turning to face her holoscreen. She turned it toward her, ready to type and move onto their next topic, “But before we get sidetracked I’ll need to share my theory on why all of this happened and why your peaceful life of twelve years suddenly came to an end.”

Now they were getting to the most important part for both Shiro and Keith. “My biotics were acting up.” Keith looked at his hand, as if staring at it would answer all of the questions he had. “I was itching all over.”

“You were?” Pidge turned to him for a second and as Keith nodded, she pushed up her glasses before continuing in her typing. “The itching supports my hypothesis. In theory it would mean that there was a large quantity of dark matter present in the area before the shockwave was released. There was so much dark matter that your body couldn’t handle it anymore and _bam!_ Released it to relieve your body of the stress.”

“So that was what caused the shaking!” Hunk pitched in, “The colosseum shook and I thought it was an earthquake for a minutes there before I noticed all the people screaming and running. The government installed protective stabilisers against earthquakes so I was confused for a second there. I heard about what biometrics can do but wow… That was some power.”

“It was an uncontrolled wave. A ticking bomb waiting to explode.” Pidge pulled up a video on her holoscreen, showing the arena and Keith within it. Looking at it, Keith understood that it was at a point in time before all the chaos began. “I managed to hack into a few cameras before the incident, not knowing this would happen. Sometimes you can get really lucky.”

“Wait, what are you trying to say by a ‘ticking bomb’?” Keith leaned his upper body closer, trying to get a better look at the holoscreen, “So I would have went haywire no matter what I did?”

“Basically. Let me explain.” Pidge played the video, showing Keith fighting his opponent before the guy landed a hit, causing the shockwave to erupt from Keith’s body. “When he hit you, he managed to release the dark matter that was building up inside your body.” She moved her fingers, changing the perception of the screen.

Shiro and Keith looked closer, seeing Keith and his opponent still on the screen but this time the image was more faded, showing small flowing balls all around them. It was dark matter, portraying it on the screen in forms of circular objects. The first thing both Shiro and Keith noted were the large quantity of dark matter that was surrounding Keith, and then another source that was closeby.

“This is dark matter?” Keith asked to make sure.

“Yeah.” And he got the expected answer, “Your body naturally emits a higher quantity of dark matter around you, basically acting like a magnet that attracts dark matter towards you at your will. But here we have you and then another source right here.” Pidge pointed to the other source, zooming in on the image.

What both Shiro and Keith saw was a boy about Keith’s age, looking down into the arena with a blonde girl next to him. His eyes were wide in surprise, hands in front of him. It was hard to see but the boy was scratching his left hand, that is if the image was anything to go by.

“I know that you probably won’t believe me but apart from you, there’s only one other possible person who could act as a source of dark matter.” The rebels tensed, careful in their approach, “I believe that your biometrics acted up in result of both you and Subject 003 being in the colosseum. The close distance between you two caused a disturbance in the flow of dark matter.”

“Wait.” Keith jumped up, pointing at the image with a single finger, eyes locked on the boy, “You’re saying that’s _Lance_. He was _there_.”

“There’s no one else it could be.” Pidge nodded, adjusting her glasses as she leaned in to get a closer look at the brunette, “He also looks a lot like Subject 003, so I’m thinking that it’s him.”

Keith felt his lungs quit, suddenly too heavy and cold to function properly. He felt Shiro reach over and grab his wrist, tugging pitifully to try and sit him back down, but he wasn’t about to sit down after _that_. Not when Lance was _right there_  after twelve long years of silence. All he could do was stare, drinking in the sight of his long lost partner.

Colleen walked back in the room at that time, a tray full of cookies and a fresh pot of tea in her hands. She stopped when she saw them, her eyes flickering between everyone in the room for a moment before resuming her track towards them, a bit more slowly and cautiously this time. She sat the tray down gently, looking between Matt and Shiro, “What’s going on?”

“Keith agreed to work with us.” Matt shrugged, reaching for a cookie.

“We also have a lead on Subject 003...Lance…” Hunk helpfully supplied.

“Oh, wonderful news.” Colleen humed, sliding the tray a bit towards Keith, “Have a cookie dear.”

“Is there a way to track him?” Keith snapped out of his hypnotic state, his voice may or may not have cracked a bit.

Pidge scoffed, “Of course there is. That’s a VIP booth. All I have to do is figure out who reserved it and I can track them down easy.”

Colleen frowned at the girl as Pidge pulled up another holoscreen, “Katie, sweetie, are you sure hacking the arena systems right now is a good idea? By now the best government trackers they have are likely reviewing everything in the databases.”

“Don’t worry mom, they’re good, but I’m better.” Pidge stated confidently, her fingers rapidly tapping at her holoscreen. It was the quickest he’d seen her move, and he could barely comprehend the images and worlds flashing across her screen.

Colleen raised a brow at her daughter before silently moving on, turning back towards the others, “Cookie anyone?”

“I’ll take one.” Hunk plucked one of the fresh baked goods off the plate. Shiro also silently reached for the baked sweet. Keith, normally a bit of an admitted addict to sweets in general but especially cookies, which he so rarely got due to their financial situation, found he couldn’t reach for them. He was too anxious, too tense, because Lance was so _close_.

“Annnnnnnddddddddd...got it!” Pidge perked up, “Looks like the box was reserved by a guy named Coran blah blah blah Smythe under the orders of Allura Alteanis.”

Keith felt his heart stop. 

“The District Manager?” Hunk gasped, eyes going wide, “You mean they have him? What happened? How did they find him?”

“Keith…” Shiro reached over to tug at Keith’s wrist, “...Keith, I’m sure there’s an explanation for this. We would have known if they had found him by now.”

Keith shook his head, unwilling to move away from the holoscreen, “No, we wouldn’t have known. There’s no way any of this would have been made public knowledge, not when the facility is a guarded secret of the government.” It was frightening to think about and a part of him knew that was a possibility.

Ever since that fateful day twelve years ago when Lance and he were separated, he thought about the many things that could have happened. He held onto the thought that Lance survived and found a home just like he did. That’s what he wanted to believe so he accepted that as the truth.

However, a part of himself also considered the many other possibilities. The dark thoughts lingered within the depths of his mind, preventing him from sleeping many nights. He doesn’t know what happened to Lance, he knew nothing at all.

As far as he was concerned, Lance could have died or he could have been brought back to the facility. He had nightmares about both of those and it made him fall into depression multiple times. He just _didn’t know,_ and it was that thought that scared him.

“We don’t know anything at this point.” Pidge spoke, snapping Keith out of his train of thoughts. “ _But_  since he is in the colosseum and in a VIP booth nonetheless, it would make sense to think that he’s not in danger at the moment.”

“We don’t know that.” Keith clenched his hands, turning to look at Pidge, “Why would he be with Allura Alteanis then?”

“I don’t know.” The girl huffed, “That’s the thing, we don’t know anything.”

“Hmmm….” Hunk hummed to himself, hand on his chin as he looked at the image in thought. He could have sworn he’d seen the guy before but where?

“Keith? Maybe it would be better if you sit down for a minute.” Colleen touched the pale boy’s hand, making him flinch. “A cookie or two would do you good.”

“I don’t need cookies.” Keith didn’t care about formalities right now, turning to look at Pidge instead. He knew he was being rude, but he didn’t care at the moment, “How can we track him?”

Pidge sent a glare his way, “We’re not tracking anyone until you sit down. Eat a damn cookie and calm down. We can’t do anything unless you settle.”

Keith raised a brow, clenching his hands by his sides, “I’m not-”

“It’s okay.” Colleen gently nudged him to sit down, managing to achieve her goal as Keith now sat back down between Shiro and her, “Everything is going to be okay sweetie. We’ll find him no matter what.”

“You don’t know that.” Keith turned away from her, facing the holoscreen again.

“You’re right, but I’m here to help in any way I can. Unless we take a step forward, we won’t achieve anything. At this time, we’re taking a small step to finding him.” She smiled, taking the plate of cookies and offering it to Keith again, “Pidge will help you, and so will Matt. If they don’t, I’ll make sure they’ll be grounded for it.”

“Hey! You can’t do that to us!” Pidge complained, “I have my rights!”

“Of course you do.” Colleen sent her daughter a knowing smile before turning back to Keith, “I’ll make sure you receive all the help you need.” She offered the cookies but Keith hesitated, turning his head around.

“I don’t want the cookies.” He muttered, Colleen pulling the plate away.

“Alright.” She place it back down on the table, Pidge focusing on the holoscreen before her.

“If he’s with Allura Altean-”

“I got it!” They were all startled by Hunk who sat up from his spot in sudden realisation, “That’s the guy who flipped my cart over! I was pushing the cart of desserts when the door beside me suddenly opened and he ran out of the booth! He looked really panicked and then took off running down the corridor. The blonde girl next to him followed!”

“You met him?” Keith asked in surprise.

“Yeah! He didn’t say anything but I did hear the girl calling out his name. It was ‘Lance’.” Hunk remembered the saltness he felt about all those wonderful desserts being wasted like that. Definitely not a good first impression.

Keith leaned his upper body forward, hands on the sides of his head and Shiro’s hand on his back. “We can’t conclude anything at the moment.” The older Gane brother said firmly, “We don’t know why Lance was there and why he was watching the matches. He was in a VIP booth, which would be unusual if he was being held captive.”

“Right.” Pidge agreed, “But I have some good news.”

“What is it?” Keith quickly asked.

“Allura Alteanis is the District Manager for Sector Six, and we’re _in_  Sector Six.” Pidge began typing again while Matt hummed in thought.

“Usually we would go out and scout the area of interest but since it’s the dead of night, it would be a bad idea if we-”

“We should go.” Keith butted in, “There will be nobody out on the streets at night. We won’t be noticed.”

“Oh no! Bad idea.” Hunk raised his hands up, “They have extra cameras working at night. They’d definitely spot us. Plus you’re wanted, which means that there will be police out looking for you all over.” Definitely a bad idea. After such a long day, bed seemed all the more inviting.

“Hunk is right. We don’t know where he is so our best course of action would be to call it a day and then do some research on Allura Alteanis tomorrow. We may not know where Subject 003 is but we may be able to find him through Allura.” Pidge agreed with Hunk, “If she reserved the booth, then there has to be a connection.”

“It’s possible that the girl is the reason he was there.” Shiro pointed out with a shrug, trying to reel out ideas that _wouldn’t_  have Keith combing the streets right now, “Lance could be there with her.”

Something ugly boils inside his stomach at the suggestion, but Keith brushes it off, choosing instead to focus on more pressing concerns. “If that’s the case then who is she and what does she have to do with the District Manager?”

“Could be a friend or relative.” Matt shrugs, “Allura is known for being generous, it’s part of the reason District Six is so prosperous.”

“Best case scenario as I see it is that he’s playing a dangerous game, probably trying to get information.” Pidge shrugged.

That filled Keith with a new wave of anxiety. It was a far, far, _far_  better solution than what he’d imagined before. Thing was, it was _still_  terrible and stupid and something _he could completely imagine Lance doing_ if he was anything like he’d used to be.

“Oh god.” Keith felt like he was going to be sick. He fell back onto the couch, brushing both hands through his hair, “That’s exactly the kind of stupid shit he would do.”

“Keith. Calm down.” Shiro shook the boy’s shoulder, “I’m sure he’s not doing anything stupid either. He was probably just on a date or something.”

Keith shot his brother a hateful glare, that ugly bubbling coming back for a brief moment before he crushed it beneath his heel. Still, he glared at his brother, “With a possible relative of the _District Manager?_ ”

“He seemed fine when he was knocking over my cart.” Hunk piped in, pausing for a moment to scratch his chin, “Okay, not _fine_ , he was a bit panicked, but he didn’t look like a prisoner or anything.”

“Was there anything else you noticed when he was rushing out?” Shiro asked, leaning forward, “The more we know about the situation the better prepared we’ll be when we try to find him.”

Hunk’s brows knitted together, the tanned man munching on his cookie, making small noises while he tried to remember. Finally, after one of the longest minutes of Keith’s life, the man spoke, “I think the girl he was with was in the know.”

“What makes you think that?” Matt asked nervously, scratching the back of his head.

“She was in the room with him right?” Hunk put in, “And she wasn’t panicked like he was when she ran out. She was calling after him and running, and she seemed like she knew what was going on.”

Colleen, who’d remained quiet until now, suddenly spoke up, “It sounds to me like there may be more to the story than Lance being captured or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“What are you saying mom?” Pidge tilts her head to the side, keeping an ear on her mother.

“We don’t know if Miss Alteanis knows about the biotics.” Colleen poured herself another cup of tea, sitting straight on the couch, “Or maybe she does, we can’t say, but Lance could have been dropped off here in District Six and gotten a job working for her. Or maybe he was dropped off with employees of her. We can’t know until we find a way to contact Lance himself.”

A hush fell over the group. Colleen, however, didn’t seem to mind it at all. She simply sipped her tea and spoke again, “We should have dinner soon. What would you two like?”

Keith deflated, the energy sapped out of him. He didn’t _want_  dinner, he wanted to get out and find Lance. He wanted to storm the streets, storm the District Manager’s house if he had to, but both those ideas were stupid beyond measure and he knew it. He didn’t even have any idea if Lance was really there.

“I’m not hungry.” Keith sighed, feeling the whole day’s stress wear on him.

“Keith, you should eat something.” Shiro side-eyed him, “It’s been a long day. Eat, rest, we’ll figure this out in the morning.”

“That’s a _great_  idea.” Hunk patted his stomach, “I think we could all use some food right now. We’ll think better when we’re full.”

“We should probably show you your rooms.” Matt shrugged sheepishly, “You’re...probably going to be staying with us for a bit.”

“Oh shit.” Shiro cursed, shooting up, “I should contact my fiancé. Do you have a way to do that?”

“I can think of something.” Matt smiled, moving to pat Shiro on the back, “Don’t worry big guy, just leave it to ole Matt Holt. I won’t let this turn into an Odysseus situation on my watch.”

“I’ll begin dinner then.” Colleen stood up, “Don’t fill up on cookies. Now, Keith, are you sure you don’t know what you want?”

Keit shrugged miserably.

“He’ll eat pretty much anything.” Shrio supplied, smiling at Colleen, “Don’t worry, he’s just overwhelmed and everything is just starting to catch up with him. I promise we’ll join you for dinner.”

Colleen nodded, “Alright dear, eat all the cookies you want. I’ll go find something to make.”

She stood up and walked back into the kitchen. Hunk shifted, looking between the kitchen and them, before seeming to come to some sort of decision, “I’m going to call Shay and tell her where I am. I’ll help with dinner tonight.”

“Alright!” Pidge punched the air, grinning widely as her eyes turned back on Keith, “You’re going to love this! Hunk’s cooking is the best.”

Keith sighed, tired violet eyes meeting Pidge’s, “Alright.”

Shit, he hoped that this wasn’t the beginning of another onset of depression. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Shiro, who recognized when Keith was falling into a mood, sighed. He plopped down on the couch, grabbed a cookie, and held it up to Keith’s face. “Keith, we both know you love cookies, and Colleen made these just for you.”

“I’m not hungry.” Keith sighed again.

“You don’t have to be hungry to want a cookie.” Shiro waved it in front of Keith’s face like a little flag, “Come on, it’ll make you feel better. I’ll just keep waving it until you take it.”

Keith sighed again, tentatively reaching for the cookie and moving it towards his lips, nibbling at it if only to appease his brother. Shiro gave a weak smile, patting his back, “There you go little brother. Eat up. We’ll figure this out.”

 

* * *

 

“Lotor! Wait up!” Ezor called after the man, she and her fellow team members following their leader back into his luxurious house, trying to keep up as Lotor raced inside. He was unwilling to turn around or wait for them, passing the security that was positioned in front of his entrance door as he slammed it open, storming inside.

His generals didn’t say anything but followed nonetheless, walking up the stairs into Lotor’s office. The president’s son began rummaging through his shelves as soon as he managed to get to his table, looking for a specific button.

As soon as they switched on the lights, the large holoscreen in the corner came to life, showing the twenty-four-hour news channel covering the alleged ‘terrorist attack’ that took place in the colosseum.

“We’ve received no new developments following the attack on the colosseum but we are informed by the government that the police as well as a special investigation squad is in pursuit-”

“Switch it off.” Lotor hissed, “That news is only for the ignorant fools.”

“Wow… What’s up with him?” Ezor leaned in and whispered into Zethrid’s ear while Acxa walked up to the couches and switched off the holoscreen. She turned to Lotor, crossing her arms while looking at the man in confusion, “What are you looking for Sir?”

“A little secret project of mine that I’ve kept on the side for a while now.” Lotor smirked when he found the concealed button under his desk, pressing it before a part of his bookshelf transformed, flipping over to reveal another side on the back.

The new shelf had a few documents stacked on it, fewer in number than the ones that aren’t hidden from view. Lotor walked up to the shelf as soon as it was flipped, pressing his hand against the barrier to let the system identify him.

The barrier turned green before disappearing, allowing Lotor to reach inside and take out a folder. The man then went back to his table, seating himself down before opening it. “Five years ago I was privy to discover a project so secret that most of the information related to it was concealed by the government. I was extremely lucky to even stumble upon it, but when I did, I uncovered one of the darkest, if not the most important secret my father has to hide.”

The generals all looked at one another, approaching the table to have a look at the papers as well. “And this project has something to do with what happened at the colosseum today?” Zethrid asked for them all, Lotor nodding to confirm it.

“It was a project that began more than fifteen years ago, and it involved experimentation on children that were deemed the most suitable test subjects. As far as it’s stated here, there were a total of fifty children that were taken away from their families using nothing but promises of a better future.”

“That’s nice and all but…” Ezor tilted her head to the side, “But what does it have to do with the colosseum again? Or the weird kid we chased down?”

“Patience. I’ll get to it.” Lotor eyed her before his attention returned onto the papers, “According to the information I’ve found, only two out of these fifty children survived. They were Subject 003 and Subject 004. They’re the only remaining legacy of the project.”

The generals listened closely, Acxa trying to understand where Lotor was going with all of this, “And one of those subjects is the boy in the arena?”

“Based on my research and all of the information I have at my disposal, I’d say that he is.” Lotor turned a page, taking out two photographs that were clipped to the document, “These are the two children that survived. The only ones who have the power of biotics.”

“A what?” Ezor asked again, scratching the back of her head and trying to understand all of this.

“Biotics is the ability to create mass effect fields using element zero nodules embedded in body tissues. In other words, they pull on the power of dark matter to knock enemies from a distance, lift them into the air, generate gravitational vortices to generate or tear obstacles or enemies apart, and create protective barriers. They-”

“They can do all that? That’s really OP! How can we stand up to all that!?” Ezor’s eyes were wide, leaning against Zethrid for support.

“They can’t have all that power. It’s not possible.” The said general said, trying to comfort the other.

“It is very possible, and this project, ‘Project B’, created these creatures.” Lotor narrowed his eyes, not appreciating being interrupted like that, “And what we’ve seen today was one of those biotics using his power.” An amused smirk creeped up onto his face, staring down at the images of the two children. “And now that I know they really exist, I’ll do anything in my power to get possession of them. I cannot allow my father to get his hands on them, otherwise he’ll use them to instill fear in the people, or worse…” He could use them against his own son.

“I take it that you’d like us to hunt them then. Search and capture.” Acxa got to the point.

“Precisely. We now know that these subjects are still alive, out there for the taking. One of them showed himself to the world, meaning that my father may already be on the hunt for him. I want you to find this boy and bring him to me.” Lotor leaned his hands against the table, eyeing the four women in front of him.

“What of the other?” Zethrid asked curiously.

“We don’t know if he’s alive but if he is, then we’ll find him. I have a device that will help you in your search.” Lotor stood up and walked to the shelf again, taking a device that was there, “This should be able to detect traces of dark matter. I’m afraid it’s not as accurate as to what my father may have, but it should still lead you to their close proximity. As soon as you spot an anomaly, proceed to capture the target.”

“Understood.” All of them nodded, Acxa taking the device. “We’ll begin our search early morning then.”

“Perfect.” Lotor sat back down into his chair, “And while you do that, I’ll pay Allura a visit.”

“It seems to me that you’re in deep Sir.” Ezor teased but Lotor didn’t mind it.

“Seems so. However, if I gain her cooperation in my plans to overthrow my father, then I’ll have higher chances of becoming the president myself. The biotics will also help me in my cause.”

“Very well. We’ll take our leave now then.” Acxa and the rest raised their hands up to their chests, chanting “Vrepit Sa” before leaving the room. Lotor watched them go with a grin on his face, and as soon as the door was closed, he switched on the holoscreen again, replaying the moment when the shockwave was released.

He paused the footage at the moment when he could see the boy’s face the clearest, but since he was wearing a scarf, it was hard to tell how he really looked. He raised up a photograph of the dark haired child, comparing the footage with the image. There was a resemblance, and since it’s already been twelve years, he had to make do with the data he had.

“How foolish of you to use your power like that.” Lotor mused, “But I don’t believe you did that on purpose, you couldn’t have.” He thought about the possibilities, as if staring at the image of the boy would give him all the answers he needs. “I’ll find out everything there is to know about this project, and then you’ll help me overthrow my father.” Lotor mused, leaning back against his chair.

“Then as I become president, I’ll use you to better the world. I wonder what kind of secrets you’re hiding.” He continued staring at the holoscreen, the grin unfading from his face.

He’d just uncovered one of his father’s biggest secrets, and he’ll do anything to exploit it to his advantage.

 

* * *

 

Lance was frustrated to admit that he couldn’t sleep the entire duration of the night, only about getting three hours of sleep tops before his anxiety woke him up. He’d find himself staring up at the ceiling, looking at the screenshot of what he knew was Keith taken from the news.

He managed to observe all the features he could, even with the bandana covering the bottom half of his face. Keith was no longer the innocent child he remembered, turning into something sharper and deadlier. He knew that his Keith would always be there, the one he knew and befriended within the facility.

But twelve years changed people, meaning that the child he knew grew up and became an adult. Keith is eighteen while Lance is seventeen, a year younger than the noirette. Lance couldn’t help but smile as he pulled on his memories, thinking back to how Keith cried at even the smallest of things, such as Lance stealing his favourite hippo plushie at the time. Keith loved that thing, and the younger him soon learned not to mess with the plushie if he didn’t want to make Keith cry.

He listened to the melody of his locket, humming contently while looking at the picture and pulling up on precious memories of them two of them. He tried to be positive, he really did, but the dawning reality that Keith was now exposed sent shivers down his spine, his hands lowering as he stared at the ceiling again.

He felt useless. Keith was out there running away from certain death while he was in a nice neat bed, laying around doing nothing. Oh no… He’ll have none of that. As soon as morning comes he’s dragging Romelle out of her bed to go out with him. He’s not dumb enough to go by himself, plus Romelle’s company will give him a sense of security. Especially if something happens, the blonde girl was extremely good at cover ups and she’d managed to get him out of some really sticky situations. There was one time when he went to an electronics store and his biotics managed to short-No, no, it’s better not to think about that.

Lance sighed, eyes moving to glance at the clock as the melody of his locket played. As soon as the clock showed 8am, Lance jumped out of the bed, going into the bathroom to get his morning routine done and finish his business before storming into Romelle’s bedroom.

He put on his shirt and pants, locket safely tucked away under his shirt as he opened the door and walked out into the living room. He made a beeline for Romelle’s room, not even bothering to knock as he swung the door open, startling the poor girl out of her bed.

“W-What! An attack!” Romelle yelled, clinging onto her pillows with eyes shut. She took a peek, eyes narrowing as soon as she spotted the brunette, “Oh… It’s just you. What do you want?”

“We’re going out.” Lance walked up to her closet, opening the door wide and rummaging through her clothes to find something she could wear, “We’re looking for Keith.”

“H-Hey! How many times did I tell you not to go through my things!” Romelle shot out of bed, sleep forgotten and her protective mode activated. “Leave those shorts alone!”

“I don’t care what you wear but I need you to dress up! We’re going out!” Lance gave her the shorts, and as he did Romelle proceeded to royally kick him out of her closet.

“Get out!” She managed to kick the other out, closing the door behind him, “You heathren! I’ll get you back for this! It’s eight in the morning!”

“A perfect time to begin our search.” Lance sat on the bed, tapping his foot against the floor, “You know I can’t venture out alone. Hurry up.”

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Romelle peeked out from her closet, eyeing the other suspiciously, “Did Allura approve this?”

“She will once we talk to her.” The brunette looked away, “She can’t say no if we’re all dressed up and ready to go.”

“What!? That’s desperate, even for you!” The girl grumbled, getting back into the closet and dressing up before going over to her bathroom, closing the door behind her.

“I am desperate.” Lance huffed, “I can’t sit here on my ass while Keith is out there running for his life. That’s not me.”

“Right now it is.” Romelle pointed out, and just as Lance was about to protest, Coran appeared at the doorway, looking at the both of them in surprise.

“It’s unusual for the both of you to be up so early in the morning. What’s the occasion?” The older man asked, already holding a pan in hand and ready to cook.

“We’re going to look for Keith.” Lance huffed.

“Oh? Did Allura approve-”

“Nope! But we’re going anyway because we’re dumb like that… Someone is.” Romelle complained behind the door as Lance folded his arms.

“I’m not dumb. I couldn’t sleep at all last night and I need answers. I _need_  to find Keith.” He stressed, earning a hum from Coran.

“Then do you know where to begin looking?” The older man asked, earning a confused look from the brunette.

“The streets?”

“Aha! I see, I see…” Coran took a step into the room, a mischievous look on his face, “Then you’re in luck because I have just the place in mind where we might get the information we need.”

“Really!?” Both Romelle and Lance yelped in surprise, the blonde girl swinging the door open as she asked.

“Of course! It’s a place where information is being traded left and right, that is if you manage to agree on a reasonable price. It is the world of those that crawl in the dark with a vast network of information at their disposal.”

“Oh no… Is it-”

“The black market.” Coran interrupted the blonde girl, stroking his moustache confidently as he stood in place, “We’ll be sure to find information on this Keith fellow there.”

Romelle balked at the news, “Coran that’s a _terrible_  idea.”

Coran side-eyed the girl, huffing a bit at her easy dismissal of his incredible efforts, “Well then, if you have a better idea than I would love to hear it.”

“We could, oh I don’t know, wait for Allura to come up with a solution.” Romelle huffed, her hands landing on her hips as she stared at them disapprovingly, “You know? Like we originally planned? That seems _much_  more sensible.”

Lance shook his head, frowning deeply at her, “Absolutely not! I refuse to wait any longer. I tried that already and all I managed to do was lose sleep. I need to find him before something happens and I lose him forever, or else I’ll never sleep again.”

His two friends shared a long look, both barely suppressing worried looks, communicating through their secret eyebrow language Lance had never quite been able to pick up on no matter how much he watched. Many wiggling eyebrows and strange and pouts later Romelle finally threw her arms up and stomped her foot in frustration, “Fine! We’ll go! But don’t blame me when something horrible happens as a result. Mark my words, something will go wrong.”

“Nonsense.” Coran waved off the concern with a smile, “I assure you both that so long as I’m there nothing bad will happen. We’ll get in, find some information, maybe pick up some souvenirs, and get back to cross reference the information with our own. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a way to trace young Keith and get him out of danger before the government agents find him.”

Coran paused for a moment, “...Or a gang. Or rebel forces. Or spies from other cities. Or…”

“Coran!” Romelle shouted, elbowing the older man in the side sharply, causing him to jump with a yelp. He rubbed his abused side, glaring at the girl as he did, but Romelle met it with her own and hissed, “You’re not helping.” 

She gestured towards Lance, whose face had gone much paler as Coran listed off the sheer number of groups that were probably out and hunting down Keith _right now_. He looked like he was going to throw up right there. Romelle gave a sympathetic look, moving to pat him on the back, “Don’t worry Lance, we’ll find him first. We’d know if anyone else had found him by now.”

“Not if it’s a gang!” Lance brushed both his hands through his short hair, the stress lacing his words, “We wouldn’t know if they got him! They wouldn’t exactly go to the police!”

“He’s an arena fighter, the second best mind you, on the run with his arena champion brother, _and_  with biotic abilities.” Coran mused, stroking his mustache, “I’m sure he’s safe from gangs at the very least.”

“We don’t know that!” Lance shouted.

“He’s at least safe from tracking.” Coran continued, deciding the best way to calm the brunette down was to do so logically right now, “Otherwise Allura would have found him by now, and there’s been no news of the government detaining him. If he’s clever enough to avoid tracking then he’s probably clever enough to avoid trouble with undesirables.”

Lance fidgeted, not exactly feeling any better, but looking at least somewhat calmed by the words. He twisted his hands for a bit, biting his bottom lip, “I’ll feel better when we get to the black market and know for sure.”

“Well then.” Coran straightened up, “I better talk to Allura then. The sooner we get there the sooner we can hopefully find Keith.”

“Let me go wit-” Lance started, but he was cut off by Romelle.

“No.” The blonde shook her head, her expression resigned, “You’re biased and emotionally shot right now. Allura will be biased against the idea if you ask. Let me and Coran convince her, we’ll get there faster that way.”

“Don’t worry my boy!” Coran clapped both his hands on Lance’s shoulder reassuringly, “We’ll handle getting permission! You just get some breakfast and focus on finding young Keith!”

Lance exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. They were probably right, but he couldn’t be upset about it. He was just relieved that they would finally be _doing_  something at last. The brunette nodded, setting his jaw, forcing himself to remain as patient as he could.

He’d find Keith no matter what it took. Even if it took all day, or all week, he wouldn’t stop until he did. He’d done his waiting, twelve years of it. Twelve years had been too long for them to be without each other. Now Keith was in danger and Lance refused to wait any longer. He’d tear apart the black market if he had to.

Lance’s hands clenched. Yeah, he’d find Keith no matter what, then he’d get him to Allura and they’d be safe. Safe and finally together again. Then the hole that had been in his chest for twelve long, long, years would finally disappear. He had no doubt, absolutely no doubt that even now, after they’d both changed, after _Keith_ had so clearly changed, the other boy felt the same.

A tanned hand reached for the locket around his neck, tracing the metal, “Alright. I’ll be in the kitchen, find me when you’ve convinced her.”

“That’s my boy!” Coran pat Lance’s shoulder affectionately. “Go on and go eat. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“At least _someone_  gets breakfast.” Romelle grumbled.

“Oh? Maybe you’d like me to make you some delicious food go-”

“Nope!” The blonde girl raised her hands up, “Never mind! Let’s go old man! We have a District Manager to persuade!” She pushed Coran out of her bedroom, leaving Lance with a questionable stare, “Uhhh… Get out of my room!”

“Oh! Right!” Lance grinned teasingly, getting out and passing the girl as Romelle stuck out her tongue at him. Romelle really was a sister he never had.

 

* * *

 

The corridors were dark as a single man passed them, lit up only by purple neon lights that were on the sides. His steps echoed throughout the corridor, passing by security that was positioned on the sides. Sentries, the president’s most trusted pawns.

A robot was much more easy to program than a human, and one can be sure that they’ll carry out all of his wishes without questions. Soon Sentries will replace every policeman in the city, welcoming a new era of modern safety procedures.

The president preferred it in a way that he also didn’t have to bother with the humans’ poor excuses or illnesses. A Sentry will always be in service, never leaving for breaks or sick leaves. They were the future, just like the biotics were.

The man, Sendak, paused in front of a door at the end of the corridor, letting the scanning device check his ID before opening. He stepped inside, reaching the end where the president sat, kneeling down in front of the man who was seated in his office chair. “Lord Zarkon, it is an honour to report that both of the biotrics have been spotted in the arena yesterday. I’ve managed to collect the information we had at our disposal from the arena, and our staff have already managed to construct their faces based on this data.”

“Show me.” A deep voice commended Sendak moving his hand onto his red robotic eye, showing a hologram of two faces.

“The two test subjects have grown. We believe this is what they both look like in the present day.” The two holograms showed a modelled face construction that was made based on the data of the security cameras. They showed the faces of two boys, one with brown hair and tanned skin, while the other had longer black hair with pale skin.

Zarkon tightened his wrist, eyes analysing the two images, “I want the two biotics brought back to my wife. She will continue the project that was so rudely interrupted.”

“Yes sir.” Sendak lowered his head, sending the two images to the president’s computer before standing up, “I will be personally in charge of leading the retrieval operation.”

“Yes.” Zarkon agreed to that, “Bring me back what is rightfully mine.”

“Vrepit Sa.” Sendak leaned his hand against his chest, bowing once again before turning to leave. He closed the door behind him, leaving the president alone once again, glaring at the two images of Subject 003 and Subject 004.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: It's too bad they canceled s8, huh? I guess we'll never know how it ends. Oh well, at least we still have the comics. XD
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: Yo pala-dudes! Bet you thought you got rid of us after s8 XD Well, guess what, we're here to stay! No matter what the canon throws at us, I'll forever ship Klance. That said, I hope you liked chapter 2 <3
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	3. Black Market

When Keith woke up it was on the softest mattress his body ever had the pleasure of laying on. So soft was it that he hadn’t even bothered to open his eyes upon waking, simply curling further into himself under the blankets and absorbing the warmth.

It took him a moment to register the body next to him, and he felt a spike of panic roll through him before a foggy memory caught up to him. Oh, yeah, the memory said, you’re sharing the guest bed with a dog. Then when he wondered _whose_  guest bed his sleepy brain helpfully reminded him that he was now the most wanted criminal within the city state and now he was hiding out with Uncle Sam’s family.

 _That_  had him snapping his eyes open and shooting up. The white dog on his bed yelped a bit, but just fell back over once he realized that Keith wasn’t moving from the bed. Violet eyes flickered over the room, studying the pleasantly colored grey walls. The room was minimally decorated, only having a simple black and white painting. While the furniture in the room consisted of the queen sized bunk beds, with the bottom bunk sticking out vertically and the top bunk laying horizontally. There were steps next to the bottom bunk that lead to the top, each one made of a drawer where they could store things, and a built in desk with more drawers on the other side of the bottom bunk. It was made of thick wood and was, by far, the fanciest bed Keith had ever seen outside of TV.

He groaned, moving to stand up, he’d been too tired to take the top bunk last night, meaning Shiro was probably in it. One look at the messy unmade bed told him he was right.

The dog jumped off the bed, padding after Keith as the pale boy decided to exit the room and find out where his brother had gone off to. He opened the door silently, peeking down the hallway before stepping out. The hall was long, with three doors on either side all the way down, a door at the end, and small set of spiral stairs to the left of that door. There were pictures hanging on the wall beside each door, all paintings of flowers. A long rug ran down the center of the floor, and Keith’s eyes followed it to a set of stairs going downward.

The pale boy stepped out of the room, tip-toeing towards the stairs silently, sneaking down the steps as the dog padded after him, a lot more noisy than he was. Where had that dog even come from? When had a dog been brought into the picture? He’d always wanted a dog.

Keith shook his head, brushing off the thought. Not now, right now he needed to find Shiro. He continued his trip down the stairs, not stopping to look at the family photos that lined the spiralling wall.

He reached the bottom and found himself back in the living room, the dining room on his left and the kitchen on his right. There were noises coming from the kitchen though, so he decided to investigate that first. He moved towards the doors, keeping an ear open as he creeped within range.

“-lways had a hard time adjusting.” He heard Shiro’s quiet voice, his tone solem and resigned, “It took a long time for him to open up to us. You’ve gotta understand, what he went through at that place… I have nightmares about it sometimes.”

“I did too when we first found those files.” Colleen’s sympathetic voice sounded. “I found them a few months after Sam’s death. I hadn’t known what had happened until then. I always suspected they weren’t telling me the truth, that something terribly wrong happened and they were covering it up, but I didn’t know what until I found those files hidden in Sam’s safe.”

They were talking about him?

Keith swallowed, pressing against the wall outside the kitchen, one ear tilted towards the discussion. The dog sat next to him, panting quitely, tiny tail wagging as it sat and waited for pets.

“I was horrified when I watched the videos.” Colleen admitted. As sizzling sound followed her words. She must be cooking right now, probably making breakfast before everyone else woke up. “ I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. I did my best to gather information and try to find them, but there’s only so much I could do alone. Sam and whomever he worked with...they hid them well, which is good, but I lost a terrible amount of sleep over it.”

“I never thought about it.” Shiro sounds regretful, “If my mother or I had known we would have tried to send word. Keith...he never mentioned you. He mentioned Sam a lot, but…”

“It makes sense. Sam didn’t want to drag the rest of us into it.” Colleen reassured, “Katie was only three years old at the time, and Matt was just a teenager. Still...I wish I had been able to help. Sam clearly loved them both very much.”

“You’re in Keith’s life now at least.” Shiro was the one that sounded reassuring now, “I know he’s a bit closed off right now, but just give it time and be patient, I’m sure he’ll warm up to you. He’s actually a really sweet kid underneath that rough exterior, and he secretly loves affection. And you’re a very kind woman Colleen. I’m just sorry we haven’t met sooner.”

“Thank you Shiro.” Colleen sounded grateful for the words, “You’re a good man. I don’t think Keith could have ended up with a better brother.”

“Aww.” Came Shiro’s embarrassed voice, “You say that now, but Keith insists that I’m a living disaster who would have died by now if Adam and he weren’t there to make sure I didn’t devolve into drinking barbeque sauce for breakfast.”

Colleen’s laugh sounded, “Matt is the same way. I’m sure you’ll get along beautifully.”

Keith listened carefully, eyelids closing halfway in deep thought. He knew that Shiro, Aki and Adam were all involved, concerned for his safety. It pained him that he had to impose on them, but now as he listened in on Colleen and Shiro’s conversation, he understood that a lot more people were affected than he thought.

The Holt family were all victims of the facility, just as Shiro, Adam, Aki and he were. Not only that, but also Lance and the people he ended up as well. He liked to imagine that Lance ended up with a loving family as well, or at least he hoped that he did. He’d blame himself for the rest of his life if he was taken to someone as loving as Shiro, while Lance was taken to an unstable household.

He shook those thoughts away, peeking out to look at Colleen and Shiro who were in the kitchen. His eyes were on the woman whose back was turned to him, thinking about what she had said. She didn’t seem that bad of a person, but then again, he isn’t that easy to trust.

But if Shiro trusts her, then Keith would as well. He’ll have to make the call later and see if the Holts really are set on helping him.

He heard someone yawn at the top of the stairs, startling him and making him run for it so that he wasn’t spotted. The dog followed him though, complicating his escape. “Shoo! Go away.” He waved the animal away, but the dog only kept staring at him.

“Playing with the dog?” He heard Matt’s voice ask, grumbling and coming out of his hiding spot next to the couch.

“Yeah. He slept with me last night.” The dog wagged his tail happily in response, looking up at Keith as if expecting something, “What’s his name?”

“Bae Bae. Don’t ask.” Matt yawned again, scratching his back tiredly as he stood in his pyjamas. If Keith knew that he was a rebel, he would never be able to pinpoint it from his current appearance. If anything, Matt looked like an ordinary guy in his twenties. “Pidge says that he’s her bae.”

“Of course he is dumbass.” They both heard a voice emerge from the top of the stairs, spotting Pidge appear behind the wall. The girl appeared, grumpy and unamused as she looked down at the both of them, “It smells so good in here. Let’s get some breakfast.” She decided to ignore the two, making her way into the kitchen.

“Hungry? Mum makes the best food in town, only after Hunk.” Speaking of Hunk… “Where is he? Still asleep?”

“Don’t know.” Keith walked into the kitchen, accompanied by Matt as they made their way inside.

Shiro turned and smiled the moment he laid his eyes on his younger brother, “Good morning Keith. Sleep good?”

“I found a dog in my bed. Where did he come from?” The noirette asked lazily, seating himself in the empty spot next to Shiro.

“Bae Bae? He always sneaks into our beds at night. I hope he didn’t bother you.” Colleen apologised, sending a smile Keith’s way. The pale boy folded his arms, contently seated on his chair as he watched the two siblings walk around and then settle into their own chairs.

“Leave my bae alone. He gives nothing but love.” Pidge pointed her fork at him, setting up her box of cereal and carton of milk on the table. Keith eyed it approvingly, recognising the type of cereal.

“I’d like some cereal… please.” He asked, Pidge pushed the box and milk towards him. Colleen gave passed over a bowl for Keith, the pale boy taking it gratefully before pouring in his milk. After the milk, he made sure to add the cereal, mixing them into his bowl.

Only when he looked up did he notice the disbelief on Pidge’s face, “What?”

“Oh. My. God.” She gasped, eyes moving to Keith’s bowl, “Who puts milk in before the cereal? What are you? A caveman?”

Keith huffed, taking a spoon in hand and holding it gently, “People have their preferences.”

“That is a sin! Oh my god!” Pidge sat herself back down, looking at the other disapprovingly, “Food choices and the way people eat tells you a lot about them.”

“There’s nothing wrong with putting in milk before cereal.” Shiro looked a little defensive as he spoke, “It keeps the cereal from getting too soggy.”

“Oh. My. God.” Pidge looked ready to die. She and her brother shared absolutely devastated looks, “You’re the reason for this. You’ve raised him to be a disaster.”

“Technically my mother raised him to be a disaster, considering she was one.” Shiro crossed his arms, “But I certainly am _not_.”

“You’re a family of heathens is what you are.” Matt stated solemnly, eyeing the bowl of cereal distrustfully, “The lot of you. You’ve corrupted poor Keith. I bet you're the biggest disaster in the room.”

Matt had no idea how right he was. Keith could clearly recall the first time he’d been left alone with Shiro without Aki or anyone else. Shiro had been in charge of “babysitting” him while Aki went out. It ended badly once lunchtime came around and Shiro nearly burned the house down when he forgot to remove the plastic from an insta dinner he was making his newfound younger brother for lunch. Aki, disaster she was, at least never almost burned down a house while making lunch.

Normally Keith would use this perfect opportunity to expose his brother and forever shame him, but he remained silent in the presence of strangers, pitifully taking small bites of his cereal and letting Shiro take over trying to defend the Shirogane-Kogane honor to the Holts, citing Aki’s brother Tex as a prime example of a man who was both non-disastrous and poured milk first.

“I’m calling bullshit.” Pidge hummed, pointing her spoon at Shiro accusingly, “I’m now convinced that if their last name ends with ‘Gane’ then they’re a disaster. I’ll bet if I dug up information on the guy I’d find a list of police reports or something from all his disaster decisions. Or a credit history of disaster things he bought. Your dad too.”

“Good luck.” Shiro huffed, crossing his arms and sending Pidge a downright challenging look, “Uncle Tex was apparently a renown firefighter, and I don’t even /know/ who my dad is or if his last name was really Shirogane, so your hypothesis might not even apply to him.”

“Shit man.” Matt rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry.”

Colleen had finished cooking and moved to set out breakfast. Keith was dismayed to see that there were Belgian waffles. Fuck, he loved waffles, especially the Belgian kind. Life wasn’t fair.

“Hey Keith! Look! Your favorite.” Shiro perked up as he moved to fill his plate. Fuck, he probably told Colleen before hand. She probably made them specifically _because_  they were Keith’s favorite.

But he just...he couldn’t.

Shiro frowned when he noticed Keith’s hesitation. He knew, he knew very well that Keith wouldn’t touch food that strangers made, especially when he hadn’t been watching. Not without a test first. He didn’t say anything though, but he made a show out of grabbing a random waffle from the pile and taking a bite from the particular piece. He waited for a moment, trying to see if anything would happen. By now Matt and Pidge had already loaded their own plates, and Colleen had gotten some juice and milk out before setting down and filling her own.

When nothing happened Shiro pushed his plate towards Keith, “Come on buddy, eat up. I know you want to.”

Keith hesitated, but the allure of waffles was too strong. He tentatively took the plate, poking at the food with his spoon before cutting the side with it and taking a bite.

“And now you’re eating a waffle with a spoon?” Pidge questioned when she saw him, “Dio Mio, you really are the worst disaster.”

Keith agreed privately, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her he just didn’t want to dirty any more dishes than he had. Choosing instead to just cut through his waffle with a spoon and occasionally taking bites of his cereal.

Pidge huffed at him, “At least you’re actually eating this time. I thought you were going to die last night.”

Because the last time he tried food from a Holt he feel asleep and woke up somewhere strange. It was well intended, and probably for the best considering the fuss he would have made when he realized that he and Lance were being seperated, but it wasn’t the first time food had been drugged and it left him with trust issues regarding food. Aki and Shiro had to spend the first few months raisig him on chips and insta dinners, or with him watching every moment of their cooking and sniffing everything they slipped into the meals.

Keith didn’t say any of this though, and Shiro just smiled before turning to Colleen, “It shows how good your cooking is Colleen.”

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it.” The eldest Holt in the room smiled at him, “Just let me know if you need anything else.”

“We’re not going to be doing much today.” Pidge cut in, stabbing at her food, “The disaster brothers need to keep their heads down, so they can’t go anywhere today, and I’m going to be working on tracking down Subject 003 or those guys who helped dad.”

“I’m going to hack some government files and looking into security measures.” Matt hummed, eyeing Shiro, “I’m going to let the other rebels know we’ve got you two secured somewhere safe too. If I do this right we should be able to schedule times for us to work around security so we can get you guys around without being stuck inside a lot.”

“Sounds like you two have the whole day planned out.” Shiro leaned against his hand, “What about you Colleen.”

“I suppose I’ll go shopping today.” She hummed, “Stock up on some groceries, get some extra clothes for you two. I’ll keep my ears open and get a general feel on what the public thinks is going on.”

“Good idea mom.” Matt praised his mother, punching one hand into his open palm, “Knowing how propaganda is affecting the public and keeping an ear open on public opinion can help us. If we can get gossip and rumors about where Keith came from and how he did what he did then it could help us.”

“No one gossips more than suburban moms.” Pidge joked, “If you tell your grocery buddies that you heard Keith was a government experiment then it’ll be all over the city by sundown.”

“Yes, not risky at all.” Matt put in sarcastically.

“It could work.” Pidge argued, her bottom lip pouting out.

Shiro shook his head, looking amused, “I suppose that leaves me and Keith stuck inside doing nothing for today.”

“You can watch the news.” Matt shrugged sheepishly again, “Sorry buddy, everything else is too risky right now. We need a plan before we go find Lance, and we don’t even know who helped dad out. It’s also too early to expose our evidence to the public. We need to secure Lance before we do /anything/.”

“Are there no videos of just me?” Keith spoke up at long last, causing everyone to pause and turn towards him. He shifted a bit, uncomfortable, but resolved himself, “I get that you don’t want to expose Lance before he’s secure, but you’ve already got me and I’m already outed. Lance and I weren’t /always/ together, there were times when we were separated for tests or something. If there are any videos of just /me/ then you can go ahead and upload it on the web and start exposing the government.”

A tense silence rolled over the group.

“You’re...not wrong.” Pidge hesitated, pushing her breakfast around on her plate, “There are videos of you without Lance.”

“Go ahead and upload them then.” Keith shrugged, uncaring, “Once you feel safe doing it and you’re confident that they can’t trace it back to you.”

“...That’s not the issue Keith.” Matt told him gently, placing down his fork, “The videos where you’re not with Lance...those are usually awful. Sick even. Dad did his best but…”

“I was horrifically tortured and experimented on.” Keith shrugged, numb, “I know that already, I even remember most of it. You’re going to expose all that evidence anyway, so you might as well not hesitate now.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“Did you think it wouldn’t get out?” Keith raised an eyebrow, “You’re planning to get justice for your father’s death. Well, the public is going to need evidence. They were always going to see it if you were going to do that.”

“...It just feels different when you’re right in front of me.” Pidge muttered, pushing her waffle around her plate again, “Before...I knew you were a real person...but it’s _different_  now that I _know_  you and you’re right here. You’re more real now. Pouring milk into a bowl first and eating waffles with a spoon.”

“And you still need to share that evidence.” Keith stated, a bit more sympathetically now, “Sooner or later you’re going to have to if you want justice.”

The uncomfortable silence washed over them again, making everyone anxious yet uncertain as to what they should do. Pidge sighed in her seat, eyes looking up to meet Keith’s violet ones, “Let me think about it. I can’t decide just like that.”

“Fine.” Keith agreed, attention going back to his food, “Tell me if you decide to upload it online.”

“Keith…” Shiro reached out to squeeze Keith’s shoulder, a signature comforting gesture of his.

“I’ll be fine Shiro. People have to know, otherwise the truth will be buried forever. And if they find me, then people will have the video as evidence as to why they captured me in the first place.” The government could easily debuke it, but it was still worth a shot.

“If you’re going to release it.” Colleen spoke up, “Then it would be better not to watch it.”

“I agree with Colleen.” Shiro nodded, “It would be better that way.”

“Speaking of videos though.” Pidge cut in, “There are a lot of files you can borrow to watch. You can watch the news or look through the other videos, feel free to do so if you want.”

Keith nodded, thanking her in his own way.

“But before that! We should finish our breakfast.” Matt reminded before remembering that they were missing a member of their group, “Where is Hunk?”

“He should be up soon. You know he always sleeps in.” Pidge waved him off, finishing her breakfast along with everyone else. Keith decided to indulge himself in the videos _and_  watch the news at the same time in case something new happened. Today may be an uneventful day, but maybe he and Shiro should be glad that’s the case.

 

* * *

 

“I hate you both soooooo much right now.” Lance grumbled, looking at himself in the mirror. The sight wasn’t pretty, well some may argue against that, but he sure didn’t like it. With a long brown wig on his head, a dress and a purse in hand, he found himself completely transformed into a woman.

“What are you talking about!? You look lovely! You’ve finally become the big sister I always dreamed of!” Romelle squealed in delight, applying some more make-up to Lance’s face. When she got to the eyes, he literally thought today would be the day when he would go blind.

“O-Owwww! Watch it!” He complained, moving away and touching his abused eyelashes.

“Opps! Sorry.” Romelle apologised, “Hey! Don’t touch that!” She slapped his hand away, protecting her masterpiece.

“Remind me why I’m doing this again.” Lance closed his eyes as Romelle did the finishing touches. He could feel the air pass down his dress and it felt really strange. Could he wear this out in the public? Oh god…

“To blend in of course!” And that’s when Coran emerged at the doorway, fully transformed into a woman himself. Just like Lance, Coran had a wig but unlike him, his hair was up to his shoulders. He was also carrying an umbrella to go with his dress which was weird because there was no rain outside at all. “If we’re going into the black market, we have to act natural. Contrary to mainstream thought, the black market is visited by normal looking folk. The rebels are people too you know!”

“But why am I a woman?” Lance asked again, not seeing the logic in this.

“Because you make a beautiful lady.” Romelle supplied, “And it was my longlasting dream to see you in a dress so there you have it.”

“I should have known this was your doing-”

“Alright chaps! It’s time we pick out names for ourselves!” Coran stepped closer, admiring Romelle’s work, “From this moment onwards address me as Corelle, and Lance, you shall be Lanelle. They’re both beautiful names if I say so myself.”

“Hmm… I like them.” Romelle mused, but then as she thought about it, she furrowed her brows, “Wait… Why do I have a feeling like you’re making fun of my name?”

“Maybe because we are.” Lance teased, finally standing up to examine himself in the mirror. He was stunned as soon as he saw himself, jaw dropping, “Wow… This is really good. I really look like a woman.”

“You’re too kind.” The blonde girl smiled smugly, “I knew you’d like it.”

“You’re both beautiful. What a change.” The three turned when they heard Allura’s voice at the door, the District Managed had her arms folded as she leaned against the doorframe with an amused smile, “Just make sure none of the rebels snatch you for a whole different reason.”

“Haha… Very funny.” Lance rolled his eyes, hands flying onto his hips, “But we’re ready now. Can we _finally_  go?”

“Of course!” Coran checked his watch, noting that it was already two in the afternoon, “The market should be busy enough for us to sneak around the crowd.”

“All jokes aside.” Allura’s smile was replaced with worry, walking up to the three of them, “Stay safe, and if anything happens, make sure to contact me.”

“Of course. You’re our backup.” Romelle gave her a thumbs up, assuring Allura that they’d be careful. But just as they were about to depart, the four of them were startled when they heard the bell of the front door ring.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Lance asked, walking out of Romelle’s room along with everyone else.

“Not that I’m aware of-Lotor.” Peeping through the hole, she saw the man standing on the other side of the door, waiting expectantly with hands behind his back. Allura felt herself blush just a tad bit, aware that he was hiding roses behind his back. “You have to get out through the garden.” She ushered the three away, hurryingly getting out to the balcony.

“Watch out princess. You don’t want your dress to tear.” Romelle teased.

“I hate you.” And Lance hissed back as he climbed down a vine, careful of the thorns that were there. Once they were all down, Allura made her way back inside, disappearing from their sight. They made a run for it, making sure that there was no way Lotor would be able to see them.

“The first phase of our plan is complete.” Coran noted confidently, standing tall on a street with people passing them by. Lance looked around, surprised that it was actually working. It was either that or he was just too hideous for people to look at.

“Don’t worry Lanelle, you look stunning.” Romelle patted him on the shoulder, her own disguise included sunglasses to hide her eyes. Unlike them though, she was wearing a casual shirt and jeans to go along with it. Wait a second… Now that he had a closer look… “Those are my clothes!”

“Yep. Thank you for letting me borrow them.” The blonde girl teased, hugging herself, “So comfy.”

“You little…”

“Come on now! We have no time to spare!” Coran butted between them, interrupting any arguing that may arise. “The black market is waiting and we have no time to spare. Come on now!” He ushered them forward and soon they found themselves walking down the streets, looking around the signature white buildings of Sector Six. There were trees around as well, which could only be found in Allura’s sector.

It was no wonder that people fought for the right to live here. It was truly a part of heaven within the technologically advanced industrial city. Unfortunately though, even if Allura ruled the district, it didn’t mean that it was out of the president’s control. Policemen and Sentries were walking around, patrolling the area and looking for anyone suspicious.

They were looking for Keith. Lance felt a wave of anger deep within him at the sight of those government workers, wanting nothing more than to send them flying against the wall. But Keith wouldn’t want him to do that, so he kept a low profile, evading the Sentries and policemen along with Romelle and Coran.

“We’re lucky that there are multiple black markets throughout the city! We even have our own within Sector 6!” Coran mused, leading them to one of the secret entrances.

“Coran, how do you know about all this?” Lance leaned closer to the older man, “Isn’t that classified secret information? You know, rebel stuff.”

“It is secret.” Coran agreed, “But I know all this because I used to be a rebel myself.”

Both Lance’s and Romelle’s eyes widened in surprise, “What!?” They couldn’t hold in the surprise, pausing in their walk.

“Well of course! You didn’t know?”

“No!” They both yelled again.

“You learn something new every day. Back in my day, I was one of the white collars. We stole from the rich and gave back to the poor. Ahh… the good old days…”

“A white collar!? You!?” Romelle gasped in surprise while Lance looked at her in surprise.

“What’s that?” The ignorant brunette asked confusingly.

“They’re business criminals, tax evaders, money laundering, and embezzlement criminals! They do all kinds of crazy things with money! They-”

“Shhh!” Coran shushed her with a hand to her mouth, “We wouldn’t want anyone else hearing about my little adventures.” He warned, and Romelle quickly nodded her head. He let go, the two youngsters looking at him in awe and utter surprise.

“So basically you were a modern day Robin Hood. Wow…” Lance never would have thought Coran did something like that in his youth, _ever_.

“I’m amazing, I know.” The man stroked his moustache, a gesture he always did when satisfied or in thought. “But now we have to focus on finding the black market. It’s not far away from where we are so we should hurry up now.”

Shaken, the two snapped out of their surprise to follow, letting Coran lead them to an older looking cafe with older neon lights on the sides, reclining chairs in front for the customers to sit on if they wanted to enjoy the afternoon sunlight.

The three walked inside, setting off a bell to let the bartender know of their arrival. The woman behind the bar looked at them, greeting them politely, “Welcome. Can I help you with anything?”

“Actually you can.” Coran was the first to approach, leaning against the bar as he leaned closer, “We’re looking for the booty.”

The waitress was taken by surprise, utter confusion on her face as she stared down at the older man. She ceased washing the glass that was in her hand, focusin her full attention on the disguised Coran, “Excuse me?”

The older man furrowed his brows, “Ah! I know! The code must have been changed. It’s been more than ten years after all.” He took a step back, Lance and Romelle watching him as he cleared his throat, closing his eyes as he stood in place. At this point the three of them stared at one another, wondering what Coran was-

“Hiiiyyyaaaa!!!” And then the older man yelled, startling them all and gaining more attention. “Ha! Bam! Bam! Bam! Wwhhhoooowwww!! BBAAA!!! HU! HA!” Coran kicked his leg up, then punched the air multiple times before kicking again, managing to hit the bar.

“HYYYYYY!!!! HA! BUUUUUOOO!! HOOO!! Ha!” Coran yelled some more, finally, finally, coming to a pause, leaving the coffee shop in utter silence. Lance and Romelle looked around, noting the looks they were getting. Oh god… None of them wanted to know what they thought of the performance.

“Get out.” The waitress pointed to the door, completely unimpressed by the performance she saw.

“What? Is that not the code? How!?” Coran placed his hands on the bad, leaning closer to the poor woman, “I’m sure this was the last code I remember.” He spoke quietly, leaning closer, “Is it not?”

“Get out.” But the woman was having none of it.

“A-Actually!” Lance and Romelle came to the rescue, “We’re here looking for an entrance.” The brunette leaned closer so that nobody could hear him, “The black market? We were told the entrance is here.”

The woman relaxed her shoulders, eyeing them all as if they were crazy, “Why didn’t you just say so? Come with me.” She asked her collegue to guard the bar for her while she led them all to the back room. She entered the kitchen, opening a door of what seemed to be the freezer. And it was, but it was also a secret entrance, another door opening behind the frozen goods that were inside.

“Aha! Just as I remembered it! Thank you young lady!” Coran thanked her, “Just for future reference, would you know what-”

“Thank you for your help.” Romelle grabbed onto Coran’s collar, leading him down the stairs. The door closed behind them, lights lighting up on their sides to show them the way. Lance held onto the walls as they made their way down, thanking the heavens that Romelle didn’t force him into wearing high heels. What kind of a shitshow would that be? He was sure that he wouldn’t be able to walk at all.

“Wow… here is it.” Reaching the end of the tunnel, the three suddenly found themselves in one of the black markets, vast in size despite being hidden. Coran was right when he said that there would be a lot of people around because there definitely was a crowd walking around the stands. It was a whole new part of the society that he was seeing and he liked it. He really liked it, knowing that the government can’t control everyone. There was still hope.

Coran took the lead as they started down the stalls. To others, they probably looked like a boy and girl being escorted by an older woman. Well, from the corner of people’s eyes maybe. Lance fidgeted uncomfortably and concentrated on moving. He didn’t want to stand still for too long. At a glance he may look like a girl, but he doesn’t have a doubt their disguise would fall apart. He just didn’t look like a girl. His shoulders were too broad and his face was too sharp. At best he could pass as a trans woman not on hormones yet. He hoped that was what people assumed when they saw him at any rate, it was definitely the most logical solution, and people wouldn’t think too much of it.

He relaxed a bit. Yeah, all three of them could pass as a group of trans individuals, or maybe professional crossdressers if worse came to worst. And there were plenty of tomboys.

Okay, yeah, he was getting a bit more comfortable now. He still would have felt better in a different colored wig and some contacts, but at least he didn’t constantly feel uncomfortable the moment they stopped to talk to someone. At a distance he was a woman and up close he was still a woman.

Right, yeah, he could do this.

“Where are we going to get the information?” Lance asked, eyeing a stall where a man was showing off knives. The place was filthy, and everything was built like it was ready to be picked up and hidden at any moment. It probably was. They probably had some kind of alarm for when the cops showed up.

“Where all information is gotten, dear Lanelle.” Coran spoke, his finger pointing skyward and making elaborate circles, “To the info swap!”

“Info swap.” Romelle spoke, raising a brow, “What’s that?”

“It’s a shop where only information is traded.” Coran spoke, “The Infobroker, he knows everything there is to know in the city. You can buy or sell information to him. If you have something he doesn’t know, he either give you information of equal value in return, a discount, or money.”

“Interesting.” Romelle rubbed her chin, “Is that how he gets all his information?”

“From what I understand he has a larger network of spies.” Coran shrugged, “They’re very secretive individuals, you never know where they are. They could be standing right next to you. They’re also very efficient in leaving no trace behind.”

Lance gulped, feeling a sudden bout of paranoia as he glanced around, eyes flickering over the crowd. Anyone huh? He couldn’t help but wonder if one of the people around him right now was a spy for the Infobroker.

They walked for a little longer before coming up to a tent that was much nicer than anything else in the market. It was large, colorful, and had a distinctly Indian design. It smelled nicer around here too, like incense. There were two large men flanking the tent flap, both standing cross armed as the three of them approached. Lance couldn’t see either of their faces, hidden as they were by the hoods of their outfits.

“Hello chaps! We’re here to buy if you don’t mind!” Coran spoke happily, waving down the men, “I’m afraid it’s been quite some time, so I don’t remember the password.”

One of the larger men grunted, “Name.”

“Corelle.” The man spoke confidently, “And my two children Lanelle and Roman.”

The man raised an eyebrow at them, or at least Lance thought he did by the flat silence that followed Coran’s statement. He shook his head, stepping forward, “Hold your arms out for scanning.”

All three of them did, a large beam scanning over them, likely checking for weapons or spyware. It beeped green, indicating they passed, and the man grunted. He nodded his head towards the door, “You may proceed.”

The three of them nodded their thanks, ducking down and pushing through the tent flap.

The inside of the tent was as colorful as the outside, and the smell of incense was much stronger. Everything was Indian in design inside too, with cushions and decorations that looked like they were taken straight from India. In the center of the room was a man, dressed casually and sitting on the largest cushion. He was flanked by two large men on either side of him, leaving four very scary looking and intimidating hooded guards. Lance peered to get a closer look at the man and froze.

He wasn’t sure but...

“Hello, hello.” The man spoke, his accent thick, “Welcome to my shoppe. I am the Infobroker, but you may call me Slav. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Lance cursed under his breath. He knows this guy from somewhere, but he couldn’t for the life of him tell…

“Hello Mr. Slav.” Coran perked up, “We’re here to buy today!”

“Excellent!” Slav perked up, turning to face one of his hooded guards, “Sven? Would you like to collect their receipt book for me?”

“Oh course Slav!” One of the hooded men spoke, his Swedish accent piercing the air, so happy sounding that it almost gave Lance whiplash. The man skipped over to a tiny table, pulled open a small drawer to pull out the book. He flipped it open and held an honest to god _pen_  to the page, “Names please!”

“I’m Corelle.” Coran spoke, “And I’ll be purchasing today.”

“And what information would you like ma’am?” Sven spoke politely.

“I’m afraid we’re looking for someone.” Coran spoke, bowing his head slightly in respect, “A very particular someone, and you may be the only one who knows where they are.”

“If you’re speaking of Keith Kogane…” Slav spoke knowingly, resting a cheek against his hand, “Then I certainly do know, but there is only a two percent chance that you can afford that information in this reality. I’ve had many bounty hunters who wanted that information, and none of them could even afford the most basic information I have about him.”

“I assure you, we absolutely _can_  afford it.” Coran spoke confidently, “And it is imperative we know where he is.”

“It’s best not to make such assumptions.” Another guard spoke up, his voice smooth as butter and calmer than still water, “Information is much more expensive that it used to be Mr. Smythe.”

The three of them froze at that.

“Hush now Thace.” Slav waved off the guard, “That move scared them off in thirty-five percent of other realities. We haven’t even given them a price yet.”

Slav turned back towards them, “You can’t afford his location, but I have other information you could buy.”

“H-How do you know his name?” Romelle asked in disbelief, pointing her finger at the oldest member of their little group.

“You’ve come to an information broker. There is a 99% chance that I would know his name.” Slav supplied, humming contently, “But as I said, there is other information you can buy.”

“But we don’t want any other information.” Lance hissed, feeling uneasy that he still couldn’t place the guy but still ticked that they weren’t planning to give them the information they were looking for, “I need to know where he is.”

“I’m sure, but there is no way you would be able to afford it. There are other things though that might peak your interest. Sven could you bring me _the_  box?” Slav extended his hand, waiting for one of his hooded men to hand it to him.

“Of course!” The man moved, taking a box from the bottom left shelf that was to the side, giving it to Slav who placed it on the table between them.

“I believe this will interest you _immensely_.” He opened the item, revealing a bunch of old looking papers inside. “Have a look at these young miss. I’m sure you’ll like them.” He offered them to Lance, the teen raising a brow suspiciously and hesitating before taking the papers. His eyes widened as soon as he saw them, bringing them closer to his face to read.

“W-What are these?” His blue eyes were wide, looking down at what was supposedly a bunch of love letters and fanfictions that younger Keith created. Lance recognised the handwriting, proving that they may be real but… He couldn’t stop himself reading the first letter that was on top, blushing by the sheer childhood innocence younger Keith had. Saying things such as ‘I love you sooooo sooo much!’ and ‘I want to kiss you like the hero kisses the princess!’ and those words while they were sweet, they also made Lance smile in nostalgia.

He flipped a couple of pages over, noticing the few fanfictions that were there. The two of them loved reading books back then so it would make sense if Keith wanted to make a few of his own stories. He began reading the first one he found, featuring an older Keith and himself as Batman being chased by a clown. Oh god…

“Sweet aren’t they?” Lance was snapped from his thoughts when Slav spoke, “I’ll gladly sell them to you for a reasonable price.”

“H-How do you have these? Are they real?” It looked like Keith’s handwriting from what he remembered but… He was still suspicious. How could they _have_  this in their possession?

“They’re very real. The quality of the paper speaks for itself. Look, it’s slowly beginning to turn yellow.” The information broker pointed out, and Lance noticed that it was true. Okay, he didn’t care if they were real or not, he had to have them.

“I’ll give you 5000 GAC for these.”

“Sold!” Slav clapped his hands while Lance took out his money, handing it over to the man who began counting it happily.

“But it still doesn’t explain how you have all of this, or how you knew Coran’s name.” Romelle, the reasonable one within the group asked, “Who are you people? And how did you know that Lance would want these?”

“Aha! That is another piece of information that will cost you. Even words have a price here.” Slav mused, narrowing his eyes, “And of course I’d recognise the boy anywhere. There is a 87% chance that I would in every reality. It’s hard to forget someone as special as Subject 003.”

Cold ice ran through their veins then and there, standing up from their seats in fright and looking warily at the group before them. “We’re not here to cause trouble.” Coran raised his hands up in front of his chest, “All we want is information on where Keith Kogane is.”

“And you cannot pay for it. I already told you.” Slav insisted with a sigh, “At least not with cash.”

“What do you mean?” Lance was the one to ask, holding the letters safely against his chest.

“This information cannot be bought with cash but… a blood sample will do.” Slav folded his arms, him and the rest of his group eyeing the three closely, “From Subject 003.”

“Absolutely not.” Romelle hissed, “That’s not something we can give you. Especially when we don’t know who you are!” Coming here may have been a bad idea, and Romelle should have urged them to turn back the moment Coran began his ridiculous dance.

“Wait Romelle.” Lance placed a hand on her shoulder, “If all it takes is a blood sample, then so be it. I need to find Keith.”

“But Lance! Who knows what could be in that needle!” It was way too dangerous to risk it.

“It is empty.” The man named Thace spoke. He pulled a sealed syringe, showing it to the three. “It is brand new and unused. Trust me, there is no way we would want anything happening to you.”

The brunette hesitated, taking in a deep breath before exhaling. “Fine. Give it to me.” He offered his hand, taking the sealed syringe and a tube for the blood.

“This is madness! I don’t condone this.” Romelle stopped him, placing her hand on the items, “Don’t do this.”

“It’s the only way to find Keith. I had my blood taken every day when I was a kid. This is nothing new to me.” Lance insisted, opening the pack and handing it over to Coran, “Help me Coran.”

“K-Keith wouldn’t want this!” Romelle tried, and that did make Lance pause in his actions but it it didn’t manage to get through. Not when Keith was so close within his reach. All he has to do is give some blood and he’ll find him. Above all else, Keith wanted to reunite with him again. Lance was sure of that, he would approve of this.

“I need to do this Romelle. Please trust me.” He pleaded, meeting Romelle’s eyes in a silent plea. The girl was torn apart, even more so when she knew just to what lengths Lance would go to to see this person named Keith. It’s the one thing he ever wanted, and she found it incredibly hard to deny him this.

She closed her eyes, nodding, “Fine.”

Coran and Lance proceeded to get it over and done with quickly, drawing some blood and putting it into the small tube. Lance hissed as Coran took the needle out, before handing it over to Slav.

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you.” He took the blood sample, giving it over to Sven who disappeared somewhere in the back.

“Now keep your end of the deal. Where is he?” The brunete hissed, glaring at Slav intensely.

The older Indian leaned his hands against the table, and Lance was able to make out his green eyes as he spoke, “He’s in Sector Six.” Was all Slav said before leaning away again.

Coran and Romelle looked at each other in surprise, unable to believe that Keith would actually be in the _same_  sector as them. But it wasn’t nearly enough, not at all. “Do you know how big Sector Six is?” Lance raised his voice, “Tell me where exactly he is!”

“We didn’t agree on the specifics.” Slav said, “I said that I’d tell you where he is but not the exact location. It’s your fault for not specifying this.”

“You… Who are you?” The itching feeling was there at the back of Lance’s head, but he really couldn’t recall where he’d seen the man before, “Tell me where he is per our deal. Just as we agreed.”

“That would cost you a different price boy.” Slav fought back, “In exchange for the information, you’d have to surrender yourself to us.”

“Okay! We’re getting out of here!” Romelle pulled on Lance’s hand, turning to flee but unable to with a guard that was standing just beside the only exit of the tent.

“You don’t have a choice.” Slav spoke, “It is the only price that will suffice for the information you need.”

Then as Slav pulled down his hood, Lance was hit with the memory of where he’d seen the man. It was back in the facility… This man… He’d been working with Uncle Sam… He was one of the only ones who did everything in his power to help both him and Keith in the hellhole they were in. “Y-You’re…” Lance stuttered, shocked.

“I’m happy you remember me Lance. If you know who I am, then you know that I want to help you. Both you and Subject 004. Let me do that, just like I did twelve years ago.” Slav extended his hand, “There is a 94% chance that everything will turn out okay if you come with me.”

“Not happening old geezer.” Romelle hissed, “Someone who is cornering us like this isn’t a person who wants to _help_  us.”

“I’m doing it for both Lance’s and Keith’s good. Now that their cover is compromised, we have to take emergency measures, and that is retrieving the both of them.” Slav slowly stood up, the guards behind him already tense and standing.

“Don’t make this hard on us boy. We know what’s good for you.” Thace tried to assure, but it was anything _but_ assuring at the moment.

The brunette hissed, eyeing all of them with narrowed eyes, “You played me. If you’re the Slav I remember, you wouldn’t have cornered me like this.”

“I didn’t want to even now, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We have to-”

“Enough. If you won’t tell me where Keith is, then I’m wasting my time!” Lance concentrated the dark matter in the air into one spot, a blue coloured aura appeared around him before releasing, creating a large shockwave just like Keith did in the arena.

The tent they were in flew away from the shock, earth shaken as the wave passed. All of the electronics went haywire, causing a panic within the black market. Everyone began to scream, running for their lives.

“The government will be here in minutes! What have you done!?” Romelle pulled on her hair, completely stunned as she watched people run around them.

“It’s the only way.” Lance grabbed both her and Coran’s hands. He pulled out a scarf he put into his purse, ditching the item and covering the lower half of his face, “If anything, Keith will know I was here.”

“That’s nuts! Absolutely insane!” Romelle complained as she ran, spotting a few more hooded figures making their way towards them.

“Lance! You absolute fool!” Slav stood back up, “There is an 87% chance that everything will go terribly wrong in this reality now!”

“You couldn’t have walked out the _door_.” Sven stressed, pulling his hood further over his face, “You could have just stormed out and refused to compromise, but nooooo. Now every officer and Sentry in the District is going to swarm the market!”

“You were going to let us _walk out_?” Romelle panicked, pulling her hair.

“We _were_  going to try and negotiate with Ms. Alteanis if you said no.” Thace stood up, looking around the mess, “I suppose that’s off the table now.”

All around them the black market was thrown into a panic as store owners packed up their things. Customers swarmed away, trying to escape before the police arrived. There were some that were marching towards them though, guns trained forwards as they rushed to investigate.

“Bounty hunters!” Coran cried, grabbing the ends of his dress and holding it up, “We have to go!”

“Oh! Wonderful!” Sven waved at the approaching men, “YOOHOO~ Bounty hunters! It was meeeee!”

“Sven! You fool! What are you doing!?” Slav rushed to stand up, brushing the dust off his clothes, “There is a 94% chance that they will severely injure you!”

Sven completely ignored him, rushing forward to continue waving at the assorted crowd, continuing to shower encouraging words, he dropped his hood, and the champion’s face was show. Only it was different, without a scar and with all black hair. He looked like a cross between Shiro and Keith and Lance realized in that moment he probably made a terrible, horrible, mistake.

“Helloooooooo friends!” Sven waved, grinning widely, like he’d just found a group of friends at the mall rather than a group of money hungry bounty hunters, “Have you seen my brothers? I’m afraid I lost them!”

Coran reached over and pulled on Lance and Romelle’s arms, leaning down to whisper into both their ears, “We need to skedaddle now!”

He tugged them both into a run. The hooded guards were already at work, most of them gathering the remains of their tent, others evacuating a protesting Slav. Some of them grabbed them though, and Lance screamed as they did, “Let go!”

“You’re going the wrong way.” The hooded man hissed. He moved, shoving them into a different direction and pointing forward, “Sven bought you a few hours but you need to flee. Go forward and then to the right! You’ll end up back on Princess Street and the main markets. Hurry.”

The hooded man shoved them forward barking at them to run. Lance had just enough time to hear the bounty hunters demand that Sven get on the ground before he started running. There were police sirens sounding everywhere now, and screams, and chaos as he heard Sentries swarm and start making arrests. Then several explosions followed as he continued running.

The three of them ran a long way, others having joined in their fleeing at some point, but Lance didn’t see anything of the hooded men or Slav, if that was the real Slav. He could hear Sentries pursuing them though, the police shouting behind, but there were too many people and not enough police.

Eventually they did make it to the main market on Princess Street, the swarm of people flooding out of the tunnels and into the alley before careening into the marketplace crowd. Lance breathed a sigh of relief as they mixed in, hiding among the people here for legal shopping matters. With so many people present the police couldn’t possibly identify who and who wasn’t at the black market. The three of them made their way through the crowd, ending up in the park and finding an empty gazebo before finally letting themselves sit and rest. They were safe, they were safe at long last.

“We should go.” He heard Romelle pant beside him. She grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her, “But first…”

She smacked him. It wasn’t harsh, and it didn’t particularly hurt, but she did it, “What were you _thinking_? You’re lucky Sven did what he did!”

“They cornered _us_.” Lance scolded, “If they weren’t going to give us information than what was the point of even being there?”

“So you just _blew up their tent_.” Romelle hissed, low as a whisper and venomous as a snake, “You could have been arrested. Then you’ll _be lucky_  if you never see Keith again.”

“I thought they were going to take us, okay?” Lance snapped back, “What did you want me to do?”

“Anything but the one thing _you’re not supposed to_.” Romelle stressed, pointing a finger at Lance’s chest, “I know you want to find him, I get it, I really do, but getting yourself arrested isn’t going to help!”

“Oh? But getting kidnapped is?” Lance hissed right back, “They were cornering us. I did what I had to do.”

“That was the last thing you were concerned about.” Romelle bit right back, “I was there Lance, you were more mad about them not telling you where Keith was than about them wanting to take you.”

“You’re damned right I was!” Lance snapped back, “You may think you get it Romelle, but you clearly don’t. This isn’t me trying to find some long lost friend or childhood sweetheart. The two of us went through _hell_  together, _nobody_  understands what I went through more than him, we’re bonded for life, down to our souls, and I’ll do _anything_  to find him.”

“That’s no excuse to endanger your life!” Romelle snapped back, “He wouldn’t want that anymore than you’d want him to.”

“Like you would know!” Lance fired back, “You don’t know anything about it! If those bastards were going to ask me to…”

“Children, children, _children_.” Coran forced himself between them, pushing them away from one another, “That’s _enough_. You both have a point, but save it for when we get home. We need new jammers, and we need to get out of the public eye.”

“No.” Lance shook his head, “He’s still out there! Somewhere _here_ , and I need to find him. He’ll be looking for me now.”

“Lance, that’s enough.” Coran’s voice was final. “His brother wouldn’t let him run about right now. The best thing we can do, for both him and ourselves, is to get out of the public eye.”

“But Coran.” Lance turned back towards the man, “You don’t know him like I do, he’ll do anything to find me.”

“I may not know him Lance.” Coran sighed heavily, “But I’d like to think he is smart enough to stay inside, and that he’s surrounded himself with smart enough people to stop him if he tried.”

Lance deflated a bit at that.

Coran sighed again, turning to place his hands on either or Lance’s shoulders, “I know you’re disappointed Lance, and that you had high hopes for finding him today, but we need to keep our chins up and look on the bright side. We have an idea where he is now, he knows you’re still out there, and Sven made sure you could get away. Keith will know that’s not you.”

It wasn’t what Lance wanted to hear at all. What he’d wanted was to find Keith at long last, to be reunited, to know he was _safe_. This felt like a consolation prize at best. No, this was absolutely a consolation prize. He ducked his head, trying not to let the disappointment fill him, “I know.”

“Then we need to get home.” Coran’s shoulders eased, the tension leaving them. He looked between Romelle and Lance, eyeing them both, “But first you need to apologise to each other. I understand you were stressed, but that was no excuse for arguing like this right now.”

They both ducked their heads in shame. Red-hot embarrassment filled the both of them, painting their faces. They shuffled, kicking the ground as they turned to face each other.

“I’m sorry for slapping you.” Romelle spoke first, “I shouldn’t have done that, there was no excuse for it.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Lance met her apology, “I was stressed, and angry, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Very good.” Coran spoke, fixing his dress, “Now let's get going. We have new leads that will help Allura find Keith faster, now we just need to make sure to deliver it to her once Lotor has left the house.”

“What are we going to do until then?” Romelle asked, shuffling in place nervously, “I know Sven brought us some time, but I have a bad feeling.”

“I’ll contact Allura and let her know what happened.” Coran sighed, and he seemed to age before Lance’s very eyes, “You two sit down for a moment and think of something we could possibly do, I’ll come back with news in just a moment.”

And then Coran stepped out of the gazebo, walking around a nearby tree so that he was somewhat out of sight and given privacy to call Allura. Lance sighed, exhaustion washing over him, and slumped back into his seat. He fidgeted, uncomfortable, and twisted part of the _stupid_  dress in his hand. God, he hated this thing, it was breezy and unpleasant and didn’t _feel_  good to wear. Why did Allura and Romelle like these things so damn much? Why was Romelle always trying to put him in these things? He decided then and there that he was never going to wear one of these fucking things again.

Lance gave a frustrated growl, ripping off the wig and throwing it on the ground. Fuck that thing. He had short hair for a reason. Long hair was hot, too hot, and heavy. Fuck, why did Keith grow his out?

Keith used to say his hair was like a blanket when Lance would mock it just a little too much, which only had the small boy mocking it more. Then Keith, tiny and small looking, would turn red and sputter as he desperately tried to explain what he felt, calling his hair “like a hug that never leaves.”

Lance decided that, whatever it was, it wasn’t the same for him. He hated this, hated wearing this dress and that wig. Hated this purse. He’d never let Romelle dress him up again.

“Any ideas?” Lance asked, looking back over towards his friend.

“Buy a ticket to Paris and never come back.” Romelle sighed, looking tired, “Keith can come with us.”

Lance chuckled, “I wonder if he would like that.”

“His stage name is Thunderstorm Darkness, of course he’ll like it.” Romelle scoffed, “That’s dramatic as heck. He’d love it. Or Italy.”

“Keith isn’t very dramatic actually.” Lance chuckled, “He’s just a dumb dork.”

“Well, when you find him and run off to Paris give him a tongue lashing for having a silly name like that.” Romelle kicked the hair.

Lance smiled, adjusting his new treasure box, “Oh, don’t worry Romelle, that’s not the only thing I’m going to give him hell about when I find him.”

 

* * *

 

Work had, kindly and forcibly, given Adam some leave time to adjust to his sudden situation. So he was at home, trying to sip some lavender tea and listen to calming music to ease his frayed nerves. His shaking hands doing little to help the process, but he was getting there. Even if it had been twenty-four hours since Keith outed himself at the arena, and he hadn’t heard from either him or Takashi yet. He was fine. He was just fine. He had tea, and music, and his hands would stop shaking any moment.

That’s when he heard the news.

Now, to be fair, he shouldn’t have been playing the news feeds when he was trying to calm down, but he needed it up, just in case. He needed to know if something happened.

He dropped his teacup when the current news feed was cut out with an announcement that there had been _another_  explosion. He spilled his tea all over his lap and sent the cup shattering across his floor. He didn’t mind it though, commanding the volume to turn up on the holoscreen instead.

’ _The attack was similar to the attack by Keith Kogane just yesterday. While the severity of the damage is not as intense, many buildings were damaged and multiple people were injured by the shockwave. While no deaths have occurred several are reporting broken limbs or concussions_.’

Adam’s chest tightened as he leaned forward, eyes locked on the news anchor, willing her to _show_  him what had happened. There was no footage though, and the holoscreen remained on Luxia Queen for now.

’ _The police were dispatched immediately, followed by the new Sentries. Several arrests have been made, including the main suspect of the attack.’_

Adam damn near had an aneurysm right then and there, his breath catching in his throat and as he leaned forward, willing Luxia to get on with it already, praying that Keith or Takashi hadn’t been caught.

A video feed popped up next to Luxia showing a man who looked a bit like Takashi, but with hair similar to Keith’s. He choked on his spit as the man smiled happily at the camera, looking like he would wave if he wasn’t being arrested right now.

’ _The suspect, Sven Holgersson, is believed to be responsible for the attack. He claims to be the brother of former arena champion Takashi Shirogane and wanted man Keith Kogane and solely responsible for the attack. Police interrogation is under way for further information_.’

“What the _hell_.” Adam stood up, his socks brushing against the tea and soaking them in the still warm liquid, “Brother? Since when? What in the world is going on here?”

He was pretty sure Takashi would have told him if he had another brother running around. In fact he was certain, considering Takashi had shared his deepest, darkest, most vulnerable secrets with him. So either this guy was lying or there was more going on than even Takashi and Keith knew.

“Oh god.” Adam took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes to fight off the migraine, “Keith...Keith what did you do? Why did you blow up another building?”

Only silence answered.

 

* * *

 

Light pleasant laughter could be heard as Allura and Lotor sat outside in the garden, drinking tea while indulging themselves in their talk. They’ve exchanged pleasantries right away when the president’s son arrived, the beautiful bouquet of violet flowers placed in a vase out in the living room.

“I’ve always admired Sector Six’s greenery. If only the other sectors would take inspiration from you and follow your example, our whole city would be much better off.” Lotor noted, looking around at the various plants that were out on the balcony.

“Thank you. I believe it’s important to find a balance between nature and industrialism. We’ve all been one with nature at some point, we shouldn’t stray away from it. After all, it’s also the nature that gives us food and water as well.” Allura sipped on her tea, earning a smile from Lotor.

“Very true. Other district managers believe that integrating plants and such would make us take a step back from further development but they couldn’t be any more wrong. What you’re doing here is magnificent Allura.” Lotor looked to the side, eyes on the vast area under him. It was peaceful and quiet, much more than any other sector in the city.

“I appreciate it Lotor. Thank you.” Allura couldn’t help the smile on her face, “But we’re all constantly finding better ways to better our life. Whether my vision will be a part of it or not remains to be seen.”

“Correct once again.” Lotor agreed, although as he looked at the city, he thought this was the perfect time to bring up the topic he wanted to talk about with the District Manager, and the reason he came here apart from making sure that Allura was safe, “Further evolution of humankind and our societies is nearly within our sights. I believe it’s much closer than we may think.”

Allura tilted her head to the side, sensing the slight change in the air between them, “Is that so? And what would that be?”

“Changing the amplitude of our abilities. Such great power that it will allow us to do anything we imagine, well beyond our capabilities. This is a government secret but I’m willing to share it with you Allura. I trust you enough to talk to you about this matter.” Lotor’s attention was fully on her now, the District Manager feeling that biotics were the new evolution Lotor was talking about.

“I do not wish to get in trouble with the president if what you’re about to tell me is a strictly guarded secret.” Allura noted, trying not to seem interested, “But I must admit that I am curious of what this secret is.”

“It is related to the incident in the arena. We’ve both witnessed it, and we’ve both felt the power behind that shockwave. We’re both wise enough to know that this kind of power isn’t natural. It was created artificially.” Lotor leaned forward, “It is a result of an experiment that took place more than fifteen years ago.”

“An experiment?” Allura knew very well what Lotor was about to say, but she felt herself twitch, eager to learn what Lotor had to say on the matter. Perhaps there was new information she could acquire from the man.

“Yes. Experiments were carried out on test subjects with the aim to create perfect beings who would be able to control dark matter that is all around us. They’re calling it dark matter, while others called it a force named quintessence. In theory, it is the essence that gives life and flows all around us.”

Allura placed her cup down, seemingly surprised at the news, “Such a thing isn’t possible. Forgive me, but it’s hard for me to believe you Lotor.”

“Oh it’s very true.” The other assured, “And I can tell you many more things if you decide to cooperate with me in capturing these test subjects. If we acquire them, we’ll be able to rule the city ourselves.”

“Forgive me Lotor but I’m finding it hard to believe you, let alone having any desire to find out more about this supposed project. Before I decide to indulge you on this, you’ll have to show me more to change my mind. I know you wouldn’t make something like this up, so I’ll let you prove to me that what you say is really the truth.”

“Very well.” Lotor nodded, “Why don’t you come visit me tomorrow evening then? I can show you files concerning-” They were both startled when they heard a sudden shake, then an explosion out in the distance. Standing up from their seats, they looked over at the city, noting the anomaly in the area.

“What was that!?” Allura yelled, looking out into the distance to try and see what happened.

“Another attack.” A grin appeared on Lotor’s face. He couldn’t be sure what happened from this distance, but he had a feeling that it was something worth examining. “I have to go and see the scale of the situation myself. Excuse me.” Lotor turned, intending to leave while Allura continued staring out the balcony.

Oh no… It couldn’t be…

She stormed back into her apartment, spotting Lotor at the door and joining him as they both left to see the scene of the crime. This was Allura’s district, and anything that happened within it was her responsibility. She only hoped that it wasn’t Lance, because if it was, it would expose them all.

“Would you like to come with me?” Lotor offered, opening the door to his car. Allura hopped in quickly, tense as the car began to move. She noticed Lotor make a phone call, aware as he pulled up a hologram of Acxa. “You know what to do.” He said, not intending to risk anything if this was in fact the doing of biotics.

Allura held on tight in her seat, and when they finally arrived, they spotted a huge hole in the ground, showing the black market below. “The black market… It’s exposed.”

“The explosion must have made the ground above it crumble.” Lotor walked to the side, intending to talk to the police. Allura was about to join him as well in questioning a few people, but as she took a step, she felt her bracelet ring, relief washing over her as soon as she saw Coran’s ID flash before her.

She moved somewhere discrete, accepting the call as the hologram of the older man appeared, “Allura. We may have-”

“Please tell me this isn’t Lance’s doing.” The woman interrupted him, getting an answer in the form of a long sigh. Of course… “Where are you right now?”

“Out in the park beside Princess Street. We wanted to go home but we know that Lotor was still there so we decided to hide here instead.” Coran supplied, Allura gripping onto her bracelet tightly.

“We’re no longer there. Lotor and I are at the scene of the crime. Make your way home as fast as possible.”

“Understood.” Coran nodded in acknowledgement, ending the call and leaving the District Manager alone once again, surrounded by police cars and Sentries. How did they get themselves into this mess? 

 

* * *

 

Keith had only watched an hour of the news repeating everything they already knew before he flipped it off out of pure frustration. It wasn’t helping nearly as much as he thought and all it had done so far was annoy the shit out of him. Honestly, Luxia was usually more exciting than this, what with her toeing the legal line to get her story, ala Lois Lane.

He ended up on the couch at some point, his legs drawn up and a dog eyeing him every now and again. Since he’s occupied the living room he is left with the responsibility of occasionally glancing at the dog door to make sure Bae Bae comes back inside. Which means he doesn’t actually have a job because there was no way the dog could escape and he was more than capable of coming back inside on his own.

With Colleen out at the market and everyone else occupied by something, including Shiro who had been whisked away by Hunk towards the garage at some point, Keith had been left utterly alone with nothing to do.

Nothing except review the videos.

He’d been staring at the box of memories for a while now, left open and ready for him to take. Matt had gently and nervously laid them down, cringing and looking apologetic when he opened the folders and picked select chips out of them. Keith didn’t even need to wonder what those particular chips contained, not after the conversation this morning. Which meant that, at the very least, he didn’t have to worry about watching anything too triggering.

The pale boy sighed, picking a random chip from its pocket. He held it to his bracelet, letting the item scan and download the information. He wondered if Pidge had thought anymore about what he’d said, or if she was going to focus on work and try to ignore it for now. Honestly though? He hoped she would just hurry up and get it over with so he didn’t have to worry about it.

His holoscreen chimed, announcing the download to be complete. He grunted, putting the chip back into its pocket and hitting play on his screen.

A video started playing and a familiar scene popped up.

Uncle Sam always brought books and food when he could, though it was technically not allowed. He was the head scientist though, and as such it was overlooked when he bent the rules a bit. None of the other scientist cared enough to stop him.

Dr. Slav on the other hand risked a lot more when he brought something.

Technically speaking Dr. Slav shouldn’t be working with the kids himself. He was responsible for creating the element zero nodes in their skin and trying to figure out a way for them to work without killing the test subject. He was a face the kids hardly ever saw, and the only reason Keith even remembered his name was because he could clearly see the nametag on the smaller man’s coat.

He’d forgotten all about Dr. Slav, but seeing him now it was all starting to come back to him.

On the screen Dr. Slav sat cross legged on the bed, the two boys leaning against each knee as  they stared up with him with large eyes. It was rare for them to see him, but he was always a favorite of Keith’s because he was nice and he sounded different from the other doctors and he had interesting stories that were different from their books. They were ‘Hindu’ and he always told them like they were real, and maybe they were real in Slav’s head. Keith didn’t know. He hardly remembered them.

Violet eyes watched the screen as the younger versions of Lance and him begged Dr. Slav for another story. The man brightened up a little more every time he heard the request, making the bags under his eyes seem less prominent somehow. He clearly enjoyed the attention and easily gave in.

“Hmmmm, I told you boys about poor Karna last week.” Slav patted their heads, and on screen Keith perked up a bit, “Tell that one again!”

“Noooo.” Lance whined, pushing the smaller Keith a bit, “That one was sad 004! I wanna hear a story with a happy ending!”

“He got to live in a palace in the sun with his father.” Keith patted at Lance’s hand, trying to stop him from pushing, “That _is_  happy.”

“He died.” Lance pushed again, “I don’t want the hero to die! I want a happy ending!”

“I can assure you that I have a story that makes you both happy in 76% of realities.” Slav promised, “The story of Eklavya. It is very similar to the start of Karna’s story, but with a much happier ending.”

Tiny Lance perked up at the news, but tiny Keith pouted, “But I love Karna. He’s the nicest person even when bad things happen to him."

“Yes, that was the point of Karna’s story.” Slav petted Keith’s hair, “But there are other heros with other challenges to hear. Eklavya proved that dedication, practice, and hard work can humble any teacher.”

Then Slav was telling them the story of a poor tribal boy that wanted to be a warrior and learn archery from the greatest archery teacher of all time, but was turned away because of his low class. Lance, in particular, was enraged to hear that the prince Arjuna, who he had developed a hatred for after killing Karna in the last story, was another reason the boy was turned away. Eklavya was not deterred though, and built a statue of the teacher to practice in front of every day, until he became even better than Arjuna. When the guru and the princes stumbled on the boy later they were amazed and wanted to know who he was. After the kid revealed he was the same reject student, Arjuna became enraged. To placate him and keep his vow of making the prince the best archer the guru demanded the kid cut off his thumb as payment for lessons.

“That’s not fair!” Keith cried, enraged as his tiny fists hit Slav’s knee, “I thought you said this was a happy story!”

“Let me finish children.” Slav patted Keith’s head and continued. Telling how Eklavya didn’t even hesitate to cut off his thumb. The guru was so humbled by the unhesitant act that he blessed the boy and promised that he would be a legendary archer despite his new disability, and it became true.

“How though?” Lance questioned, tilting his head, “He didn’t have a thumb!”

“He used his middle and index fingers in the stories.” Slav held up the two fingers, wriggling them.

“That’s so cool!” Lance gasped, his tiny face amazed. He turned to Keith, throwing his arms around the pale child, “I wanna be cool like that! 004! Let’s play! I wanna be that thumb boy and you can be Karna and we can beat up Arjuna for being mean!”

“He’s a prince boys.” Slav chuckled, “You would be arrested in 99% of realities if you did.”

“Karna and Eklalala did it!” Lance protested, “They were born poor and were better than the prince already! And Ekblabla knows Karna is like him so he’s going to save him from mean Arjuna and they’ll be bestest friends like me and 004!”

“That’s not how the stories go.” Sam spoke from where he was.

“It should be.” Lance huffed, puffing out his cheeks like an angry blowfish. He stomped his tiny foot, looking not at all as threatening as he probably wanted to be, “Ekblahva saved Karna and they decided to be best friends forever.”

“You can’t just change it.” Tiny Keith argues, “Uncle Sam just said!”

“Yes I can!” Lance decides, “We’re going to save Karna!”

“What have you done Slav?” Sam chuckles as the boys fall into a silly and one-sided debate that was really just the two of them calling each other dumb for not agreeing with them. The two of them became distracted with that as Sam walked up to speak with Dr. Slav, “Now I’ll never be able to stop them.”

“You had them playing wedding all last week.” Slav chuckles, “There is a 99% possibility they think they’re really married in this reality.”

The rest of the video was Sam trying to make the two boys calm down while they poked at each other. Eventually it was Keith who gave in to Lance, because he always did at some point, and Lance got his game where he was Eklavya, whose name Lance could never get right, and saving Karna from Uncle Sam who was forced to be the “mean Arjuna”.

It would have been a nice video if the feed wasn’t cut off by other scientists coming in and saying it was time for the tests to begin.

The holoscreen stopped moving after that, the video ending, and older Keith was left frowning at the screen as he held his knees to his chest. His violet eyes flickered to the next pouch, empty, and it wasn’t hard to think of what happened next.

Keith shoved the holoscreen off and decided it was time for a break. He pushed the boxes away, “News on.”

The television holoscreen popped back into life, and suddenly Keith was greeted to Shiro’s careless and happy face smiling at the screen.

“What the actual fuck?” Keith jumped up, eyes wide, “What’s going on?”

“Yahoo! It’s me Sven! Live on the news channel!” The man, or Shiro, smiled widely at the camera, sending another shock Keith’s way the more he looked at the man.

“Shiro! Shir-” Keith stumbled up from the couch, yelling as he fell on the side, hitting head first into the floor, making him hiss loudly. He ignored the pain, heart racing as he quickly stood up to face the holoscreen again, eyes on the Shiro… guy.

“Mr. Sven are you the one responsible for all this?” Luxia Queen who was on the scene asked, holding up a microphone towards the man who nodded rapidly.

“Definitely! I’m so sorry to cause such a ruckus and inconvenience everyone. You see, I’m looking for my brothers and I can’t find them anywhere. I was hoping all the media attention would help me get ahold of them.” The man looked at the camera, Keith meeting his gaze head on, as if the man could actually see him.

The shocked teen found himself staring face to face with an exact copy of Shiro’s face. Only his hair was pure black and there was no scar across his nose. Apart from that though, it was Shiro. Shiro was on the news! Or a man that was pretending to be Shiro! Holy shit!

“Shiro! _Shiro_!” Keith yelled again, taking off his slipper to throw it at the direction of the garage door. That finally gave him a response, the said door opening to reveal his brother and a startled Hunk on the other side.

“Keith! What’s wrong!?” The older man rushed towards him, but Keith was too busy staring at the screen to notice anything else.

“Look! That’s _you_! On the fucking holoscreen and on the news!” Keith pointed at the damn thing, drawing Shiro’s attention to it. As soon as his dark hazel eyes met the image of the man, he froze in place.

“Who is that?” Shiro asked in disbelief of the resemblance. He found himself unable to look away, even as Hunk joined them and looked at the man as well.

“Is that your brother? I didn’t know you had another sibling.” The rebel observed, Keith tilting his head towards him with a frown.

“We don’t have another brother! That’s the thing! Who is this guy?” And how did he look so much like Shiro?

“He’s not related? A doppelganger then?” It happens sometimes that two people would look extremely alike even though they’re not related.

“Could be but it’s still too much of a resemblance. I don’t know, could it?” Even Shiro was unsure, and when _even_  Shiro didn’t know, that was the time for them to panic. The dog began barking excitedly, waging his short tail while staring up at them.

“Shut up! I need to hear what they’re going to say!” Keith shushed the canine, eyes glued onto the screen and looking at the Shiro guy as well as the two Sentries that were restraining him from side to side. Their surroundings seemed strange, and Keith thought that he could make out a hole in the background.

‘ _Government officials have told us that there had been another shockwave eruption within the area, more precisely the black market that was hidden under the ground. The result of the powerful shock made the ground above it crumble. Several of the victims have reported concussions and had some of their limbs broken. Luckily there were no deaths, making it the second terrorist attack that took place in the span of two days only_.’

Cameras moved to show the damage, clearly showing the hole. The three watched in surprise, that’s before they heard Pidge yell out from the top of the stairs. “Don’t even think about leaving!” She got down as quickly as she could, joining the three in the living room, “None of us are going outside!”

“It was a shockwave Pidge! The-The Shiro guy didn’t cause it! It has to be Lance!” Keith turned to her, yelling in realisation that it _really_  was Lance back in the arena. Everything Pidge told them so far was true, relief washing over him now that he had the evidence. He turned to look at the now destroyed black market, all the evidence he needs to know that it was his childhood friend.

“We won’t be going out.” Pidge stressed, “Hunk will.”

“What!?” The said rebel was startled, “Me?”

“Yeah. We’re not leaving the house but we have to have someone be our eyes. You, Matt and his other buddies can swoop the area. Meanwhile, I’ll look into the main rebel database. The incident took place in the black market so I’ll _surely_  get something out of this.”

“I need to go.” Keith clenched his hands, feeling Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

“While Pidge does that, we can try to figure out who this person is.” He pointed to the image of Sven on the holoscreen, “Something tells me that there is a lot more going on here then we know.”

“ _Shiro_.” Keith hissed, waving his arms, “If they find Lance then he won’t listen to them! He’ll only listen to me.”

“They can call you.” Shiro promised, squeezing Keith’s shoulder, _“If_ they find Lance, and there’s no guarantee they will, then they can call us and you can talk to him then. Right now we need to keep our heads down, stay safe, and figure out what’s going on.”

“I’m calling the squad.” Matt stated, already tapping at a screen, texting his group, “We’ll meet them there, come on Hunk.”

Matt grabbed Hunk’s arm, ignoring the larger man’s protests as he was dragged out the house, slamming the door shut behind them. Keith made to go after them, but he was jerked back by Shiro’s strong hold. He scowled up at his brother, the man giving a sheepish smile as he locked his arms around Keith.

“Pidge?” Shiro turned to face the girl, the younger brother locked in his hold, feet dangling a bit in the air as Keith was held in place, “You’ve been snooping around our information for a while I guess; do you have any idea who that man is?”

“News says his name is Sven.” Pidge shrugged, settling on the couch, “I’ll see what I can dig up later. Right now I need to see why Lance would be in the black market of all places and what made him release a shockwave.”

“He was probably there for a jammer.” Keith hissed, kicking himself for not thinking of this sooner. His own jammer had been fucked after yesterday, it made sense that Lance would need a new one.

“That makes sense.” Pidge hummed, her fingers tapping away at the screen, “But that doesn’t explain why he attacked.”

“Everyone is looking for Keith.” Shiro put in, “It would make sense for them to be searching out places with high concentrations of dark matter.”

Keith felt bile build in his throat, “So this is _my fault_?”

“No, absolutely not.” Shiro replied sternly, his arms squeezing Keith a bit, “We don’t know anything yet.”

Shiro turned to face the screen where the other Shiro, or Sven or whatever, was still on screen. He was smiling like this was the best day of his life, even while his hands were handcuffed to an interrogation table, clearly in a police room. Luxia was on the other side of the screen, clearly still at her desk and taking the call via holoscreen.

“Mr. Holgersson, you’ve refused to admit to anything unless you were speaking to me. Is this because you’re trying to initiate contact with your supposed brothers?” Luxia spoke, her voice neutral despite the fact she thought she was speaking to a terrorist.

“Oh, yes, I’m looking for my brothers and couldn’t find them.” Sven spoke, smiling happily, “I just haven’t seen my poor baby brother Keith in so long, I’m worried. And, oh, poor Takashi. I’m so worried I could cry.”

He was bullshitting hard. It was almost amazing. The guy said this all with a straight face too, like he really was an idiot that thought blowing up the black market would help him find the two brothers. Keith was almost impressed.

“We’ve contacted Takashi Shirogane’s fiancé, Adam West, and questioned him about your identity and he claims to have no knowledge of you.” Luxia explained, a picture of Adam popping up for a moment, causing Shiro to make a noise in the back of his throat. Luxia wasn’t done yet though, folding her arms as she stared down Sven, “Is there a reason he wouldn’t know about your identity?”

“Well, this clearly isn’t the first time Takashi lied to Adam.” Sven chuckled, “Afterall, poor Adam dear didn’t even know about the shockwave!”

“Nobody who insults Adam like that is a relative of mine.” Shiro didn’t sound pleased at all, joining Keith in the club of overprotective boyfriends. “God… Why are they involving Adam in all of this? He’s already had more than enough.”

“I think we both did Shiro.” Keith hissed, irritated by how useless he was right now.

“If you want a good result then you have to be patient. Now shut it so I can focus on finding some information about what happened.” Pidge didn’t even as much glance their way, all of her attention focused on the holoscreen in front of her, typing furiously as she tried to reach some of the contacts she had in the area.

 

* * *

 

Matt sat behind the wheel of their van while Hunk sat on the passenger seat, eyes on the road ahead as they drove to the scene of the crime. Matt made sure to contact his buddies, letting them know that the van would be too suspicious at the sight and that they’ll need to use a car instead.

Poor Hunk followed Matt when the van stopped, parking in an alleyway before they all got into the car. They drove to the destroyed black market, parking their car a few blocks away so that they wouldn’t be too close. “Alright guys, we’ll split up.” Matt took charge, “Hunk you’ll take the north corridor, Olia you take the south one, Te-osh you’re going east, and I’ll go west. All clear?”

“Clear.” They all replied at the same time, parting ways before discreetly walking down the streets. It was always a better idea to separate like this, especially since it allowed them to see the damage from many different perspectives.

Hunk walked down the road with a cap on, hands in his pockets as he neared the crumbled ground. His eyes widened at the extent of the damage, looking around at the many police officers and Sentries that were around.

The area was already evacuated and the injured were taken to the hospital but it will take the government officials a bit more time to clean this mess up. Especially since it was a black market, a place where their enemies gathered. They must be trying to search for any kind of clues as to what the rebels are planning to do next, or where to find the other black markets. That kind of information was hard to come by so Hunk doubted they would get it.

He turned, set on exploring the streets around to see if he could find anything. That is, however, when he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, turning to see one of Lotor’s generals walking about. Hunk felt a shiver run down his spine, looking away. He was sure this was Acxa, the leader of the group. But if she was here, then that meant that the others were as well.

From what Hunk could see, she was holding some sort of device in her hand, letting it lead her as she fast paced down the street. Oh no… This was bad news. Hunk was hesitant, but he decided to follow the woman. “I spotted Acxa. I’m following her.” He let Matt know through the comms, receiving a quick reply.

“Okay, stay on her. We’re coming your way.” Matt let him know, Hunk swallowed a large lump in his throat before following. He made sure to look around so that nobody was watching him, worried of where the other generals may be.

He tried to focus and see what the device she was holding was, but he couldn’t really pinpoint it to anything in particular. He’d never seen something like that before, so he didn’t really know what it could be.

Then Acxa stopped right in front of the park, Hunk hid behind a wall as she stood in place. “The concentration is high in this area. Get ready.” The general spoke before resuming her walk, Hunk continued his pursuit. He felt all the more confident as he followed, getting a hint as to what the device may be. If Pidge, the genius she was, managed to make a device that is able to detect traces of dark matter, then it’s possible that others could have done it as well.

Oh no… but it that was true then…

Hunk hid behind a tree, spotting three people leaving a gazebo. Their faces were mostly covered so he couldn’t really make out who they were, but if the generals were onto them, then one of these people could very well be Lance.

He returned his gaze onto Acxa who was readying her gun. Hunk gasped, coming out of his hiding spot. “Watch out!”

The gun shot, but it missed its target, the three figures falling down onto the ground thanks to Hunk’s warning. “Shit.” Ezor who had been concealed hissed, the rest of the woman coming out of their hiding to attack.

“W-What’s happening!?” Hunk heard a woman’s voice yell out, recognising it as the one belonging to the blonde girl back at the colosseum. This really was them!

“H-Hold on! I’ll get you out of here!” Hunk yelled, reaching into his coat for a couple of smoke bombs, throwing them out. As soon as they fell, smoke began coming out, startling everyone that was there.

“What the!” Zethrid yelled out as she and everyone else coughed. Hunk took this chance to run and get to the three figures, trying to remember where he’d seen them last. Luckily he managed to grab a hand, earning a yelp in response.

“Hii!” It was the girl again.

“W-Wait! I’m-UGH!” He felt her kick him between his legs, landing a critical blow on poor Hunk who fell onto his knees, tears at the edges of his eyes.

“We have to run!” He heard another voice say, then the sound of the three trying to do just that.

“W-Wait! I-I know where _he_  is!” Hunk yelled out, trying to get their attention. Panickingly reaching out to grab anything within the smoke, managing to grab an arm, “I know where Keith is!”

“Yeah, right.” He heard a male’s voice this time, “As if I’d believe you.”

“I do! I’ll take you to him if you-”

“If you know where he is then tell him that I’ll find him soon. Not that you know anyway, I won’t fall for the same trick twice.” The boy hissed, but Hunk wasn’t willing to let go.

“No, no! I know where-” He felt someone hit his hand, making him yell out and fall onto the ground.

“Hiyaaa! Ha! Take that!” A new voice sounded, one Hunk didn’t recognise. Not like he recognised anyone apart from the girl though, but from the sound of it, he guessed that it was an older man. “There is a 89% chance of escape if I help you lot! Now let’s go!”

“Slav!? What’re you do-”

“No time to chat! We have to go!” The man with an Indian accent seemed to take charge, leading the group of three away.

“No! Wait! I can-”

“Hunk!” Matt’s voice sounded through the comms, “We can see the smoke! We’re coming to help!”

Everything, absolutely everything, was chaos now. Suddenly the Indian man was fistfighting the the blonde girl, or he thought so, it looked more like he was flailing at her though. She must have been equally confused because she let him get a few good hits on him before she was suddenly flailing back. It was the only thing he could see, but there were plenty of noises surrounding thm.

“Capture the one that knows Kogane’s location as well!” He heard the assumed-Acxa command. And suddenly Hunk was in just as precarious a situation as Lance, who he hadn’t heard from in a solid minute. He hoped Lance had taken the Indian guy’s advice and ran. He couldn’t see the Indian guy either, what was his name? Wait? Hadn’t he lead the group away? How had he also been fighting?

What the heckity heck was going on?

The smoke was breaking up fast, and it probably wasn’t safe for him to be here. He stood up, forcing the throbbing pain down. Gosh, what a terrible day, he should have stayed in bed.

Someone grabbed his arm, but they were hit with an electric net, a technique Hunk recognized very well. That could only be Olia’s net bazooka. And then Matt was there, grabbing his shoulder and shoving him up.

“Come on man!” Matt yelled, unpinning another smoke bomb and throwing it down, “We have to go!”

Then, for the second time that day, Matt grabbed his arm and dragged him away, leaving the rest of the group to hold off the generals while they got out of there. The others would be fine, would probably bolt as well once Matt sent the okay, but all Hunk could think about was what a _terrible_  day this had been, and he hadn’t even called Shay about Rax yet.

“Keith and Shay are going to be so upset.” Hunk groaned as Matt ran them down the market, towards the van most likely. He had a terrible feeling they’d be staying in one of the safe houses for a while, which was always awful because the safe houses were crowded by all different branches of rebel groups and there were usually multiple people trying to hide in a small space at once. He groaned again, “I don’t wanna go to the safe house.”

“Me neither buddy.” Matt groaned as well, “Me neither.”

 

* * *

 

Of all the ways Romelle pictured the day ending, being escorted by Slav down the back of a grey sudan of all things wasn’t one of them. But she found herself pinned between Coran and Lance, with Slav on top of all of them screaming, “Drive you fool! Drive!”

The man waiting at the wheel wasted no time, driving from the place he’d parked and into traffic, getting them lost into the high road. It wasn’t breakneck like she hoped, but rather a moderate speed as fast as the car would go.

“Sven has been caught sir.” The man at the wheel reported dully, like this wasn’t an emergency situation.

“I know!” Slav, who had somehow donned a labcoat rather than his earlier outfit, panicked, “Everything has spiraled out of control! In 67% of realties traveling this road we fail!”

“ _What_  is going on _now_?” Lance demanded, his wig long lost and face red from exertion. His dress was pooled around his waist now, showing off his boxers, which probably only made him more angry. Coran, for his part, looked better, and Romelle was unfortunate enough to now hold the knowledge that he was a briefs man.

“We are doomed!” Slav cried, pulling at his hair, “I have failed you Samuel! Oh, Krolia will have my head! There is a 93% chance that Kolivan will not stop her!”

“Whoa! Who is Krolia? And who is Kolivan?” The brunette butted in, anxious now that they were all in a car of a stranger, being taken to an unknown place, “I don’t know what you’re trying to do but we’re getting out of here.”

“No!” Romelle, Coran and Slav all yelled, raising their hands up in fright. It made Lance blink confusingly before frowning, folding his arms.

“I’m not an idiot to cause another shockwave! But I will if I have to!” He warned, eyeing Slav along with the man behind the wheel.

“Oh no! There is a 99.9% chance that they’ll catch us if you use the dark matter now!” Slav paled, “The first thing we have to do is remain calm. Take a deep breath and then exhale… Repeat the process two more times and-”

“We’re as calm as we can be.” Romelle grumbled, “Just tell us what’s going on.”

“Yes! I’ll have you know that if we’re being kidnapped, Allura won’t stand for it!” Coran chirped in, panicking Slav further.

“Oh no no! We’re not taking you hostage! We’re here to help!” Slav assured, turning to face Lance, “You remember me, don’t you Lance? I’m not sure if you do, but I’ve known you ever since you were this small. I used to tell you all these stories back then and-”

“Are you that Slav?” Lance bit his bottom lip, “You look like him but you tried to kidnap me back at the black market.”

“Oh! That wasn’t me! It was my twin!” Slav scratched the back of his head, “He’s a rebel and earns a living by selling information within the black market.”

“What?” The brunette was surprised, “There’s no way that is true! Dr. Slav never told me-” Wait… He did remember Slav telling them a bit about his brother when they were little. He even showed them pictures, two Slavs on each one. Lance looked up at the man, silence taking over the car for a minute. “Dr. Slav? It’s really you?”

“It is me boy.” The Indian man smiled, “The one and only! Nobody else would have told you stories about Eklavya and Karna.”

The memories resurfaced as Lance remembered the time Slav, Keith, Uncle Sam and he were in a room, reading those very same stories. It was one of his favourites, especially the one about the archer Eklavya. He felt himself let out a quiet sob, throwing himself onto the man.

“Oh dear! It’s alright boy. Everything will be okay.” Slav patted him on the back, returning the tight embrace that Lance was giving him. Romelle and Coran were both surprised, in the dark about who the man might be. Although they did get that it was someone from Lance’s past, someone that worked within the facility.

“I’ve missed you Dr. Slav. All these years. Both you and everyone else. Keith…” Lance let go, Slav gently pushing him back into his seat with his hands on his shoulders.

“I know you did and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything that happened but it had to be done.” Slav shook his head, “Now that both of you have been compromised, we’ll need to secure you both and make sure Zarkon and the government don’t get their hands on you.”

“Where are you really taking us?” Romelle asked warily.

“To a secret base. It’s the safest place for you to be in at this moment.” Slav’s words weren’t something that the three wanted to hear.

“We’re not going. We’re going back home.” Lance warned, even though he was glad to see Dr. Slav again, he couldn’t afford to go to a base now. He had to find Keith first before anything else. He won’t sit around in a base while Keith is running around trying to escape.

“Please listen to me Lance. There is a 89% chan-”

“No.” Lance shook his head, “And if you don’t let us go, I’ll use dark matter to get away. Make your choice.”

Slav cried, leaning against the back of his chair, “Not complying with you will get us all killed. Alright, we’re going back to Miss Alteanis’s residence.”

“Kolivan will have your head.” The hooded man spoke, “Are you sure?”

“Do you want to _die_?” Dr. Slav cried, wringing his hands nervously, squirming in his seat and sweating horribly, “Because my brother has _assured_  that we will. I told him, I told him to never gamble on anything with less than a 60% success rate!”

“Dr. Slav just take us home.” Lance groaned.

“I have failed these children!” Slav cried, still sweating horribly, “I should have told you more stories of Arjuna!”

“I hated him.” Lance grumbles, disgusted, “Now take me and my friends home.”

The driver silently changed lanes, getting ready for a U-turn that would take them away from whatever base they’d planned to occupy. Slav groaned on the verge of panic the whole time, which was a pretty good indicator that this was the right Slav this time.

“Lance, I know you are angry, but I must ask once more that you reconsider.” Dr. Slav was shaking in his seat, “There is a 79% chance that everything will go terribly wrong now if you don’t come back to the base with me.”

“No.” Lance shook his head firmly, “I’m not going anywhere to sit around while Keith’s on the run!”

“Lance, we _know_  where Keith is.” Dr. Slav sweated, “He isn’t in our custody as of now, but…”

“Dr. Slav, no offence, I like you much better than that other Slav, which is weird you’re both named Slav by the way, but I’m not going _anywhere_  with you.” Lance crossed his arms.

Dr. Slav groaned again, burying his face in his hand, “Will you at the very least promise me not to use any more biotic abilities unless your life is in danger?”

“I don’t promise anything.” Lance huffed, adjusting himself and sitting in the middle of the back seat with crossed arms.

“Lance, Lance please.” Dr. Slav begged, “There is a 91% chance my death will be caused by heart failure if you don’t. I already worry enough about Keith and his barely secure location without…”

“SO HE’S NOT SAFE!” Romelle shouted, pointing dramatically at the back of the Indian man’s head, “Give up his location right now before we are forced to beat you up for it!”

“Oh no.” Dr. Slav rigged his hands again, “I’m going to be locked in the labs again.”

“If everything goes according to plan then he should be at the base soon enough.” The driver spoke, “No assaults in the car, I don’t want to crash and kill us all.”

 

* * *

 

“...because there is good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” Sven finished off his beautiful speech with a flourish, swishing his hair so it added to the dramatic effect. Clearly, he had won over the hearts of everyone with his fantastic wordplay.

“That’s from Return Of The King you BLEEP-ing fake.” The District 6 police woman shrieked, “Now are you going to answer my questions or not?”

“Now ma’am, I don’t even remember your question.” Sven smiled, making sure the camera has a good shot of it.

“Then you should have just answered when I asked!” The woman threw her hands up, enraged by the lack of answers, “Did you know about Kogane’s planned attack?”

“I was in the space hospital for a long time.” Sven lamented, rolling his eye upward, “I’m afraid I haven’t spoken to my brothers since their last visit thirty years ago.”

“You’re twenty-six.” The woman hissed.

“Am I? I must have remembered wrong?” Sven smiled.

 

* * *

 

Shay lived a relatively simple life. She didn’t ask for much, just that she made enough money to get by. Life was rough, and even with every member of her family working she had to live with them to afford a relatively comfortable and financially stable life. It was a common problem, and one she’d grown accustomed too. Afterall, most twenty-some year olds lived with their parents and grandparents these days.

Her’s was a simple job, she worked in a cosmetics store, making sure the minerals in the cosmetics were safe for use. She handmade most of them, and it was relatively peaceful work. She was also stable in her career, as some of the higher class liked to use her products to help highlight their mechanical limbs, usually adding a decorative flare to them.

Overall her days were peaceful, dull even at times, and she was able to enjoy the monotony of her work in relative peace and quiet. Sometimes a customer would come to her for advice on cosmetics rather than the clerk, as she was the one to make them, but that was few and far in-between.

So she was rather surprised when a middle aged woman walked into the show, hair dyed purple and highlighted with a pinkish-red at the tips, stormed into her workplace and right up to her desk before slamming down her money down on the desk, “Your boyfriend is going to need to lay low for a while. You’ll understand once you watch the news.”

The woman walked out without another word, leaving an absurd amount of money behind. Shay blinked after her, feeling a sense of dread spread over her. She looked down at the money, blinking, before pulling up the news feed on her bracelet.

And...oh dear. What was going on in the District 6 market? There was smoke everywhere, people yelling, and they’re been another terrorist attack?

Shay wasn’t involved with rebel activity. She kept her head down and stayed out of it for the most part. Of course she knew her boyfriend was involved, especially after she shared her suspicions of her brother Rax and his supposed death, but he didn’t tend to share too much information himself, preferring to let her have the benefit of denial if anything ever went wrong.

Still, he wasn’t someone who usually got involved in explosions. He was part of the activist branch of rebels, not involved with the terrorist branch. So what had happened that Hunk needed to get involved?

“Plaxum?” Called out to her coworker, making the sales clerk look up, “I’m afraid I haven’t been listening to the news lately, what is all this about explosions?”

“You haven’t heard?” Plaxum asked, raising a brow, “There was a terrorist attack at the arena yesterday. Some guy named Keith Kogane did something with unknown tech that nearly brought down the place. Made all the tech go haywire too, caused a mass panic. Why? What brought that up?”

“Oh.” Shay blinked, surprised, “My boyfriend was there yesterday.”

“Yeah, I have a few buddies that were there too.” Plaxum hummed, “Nobody but one of the fighters got hurt, but he was pretty busted up. I hear he’s been hospitalized for a few weeks for multiple broken bones.”

Shay flinched at that, disturbed by the idea she’d been so busy working that her boyfriend had gotten involved with such thing somehow without her hearing about it, “Oh, that sounds awful.”

“Yeah, I hope they catch the guy.” Plaxum leaned up, “I don’t always agree with things the government does, but trying to blow up a full stadium is going too far.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Shay spoke, a sinking feeling in her gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Fluff mom would like to remind everyone that fanon is better than canon and in her world, also known as Blue Sock reality, Klance is canon.
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: We never give our boys a break XD
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	4. Coded Message

_“Lance? Please don’t go.” A young Keith pleaded, holding onto a small frail tanned hand, clenching onto it tightly. His violet eyes moved onto the two men in white coats there were there, intending to take Lance away from him and leave him in this dark empty room all alone._

_“It’s okay Keith.” The tanned boy smiled softly, moving to embrace him tightly within his arms, “I’ll come back. I always do.”_

_“But I hate it when you go. You get hurt every time you go outside.” He remembers the scars on Lance’s back, a new one decorating his body every time the people in white coats would take him away. But back then, Keith knew what they were from… he’d gotten his own share of scars as well._

_“I’ll come back. Promise.” The younger Lance leaned away, smiling and showing his missing teeth. “Wait for me.” The intimidating presence of the two men in white was hard to bear, and even though he didn’t want to let go, Keith found Lance’s hand slipping away easily._

_He trembled in fear, only four years old as he stood in the bare room, the hall lights shined into the room through the opening of the door. Keith’s eyes were unmoving from Lance’s form, watching as one of the men took his hand, leading him away before closing the door behind._

_Tears began streaming down Keith’s face as soon as he was alone, not able to hold back the sorrowful emotions from within. The small child cried, as did all children his age. However, unlike most, nobody would come and comfort him._

_He was alone in the dark room, crying and sobbing. “003! 0-03!” Keith called between his sobs, as if the men in white would bring the boy back if they heard him plea._

He could still hear the echoes of his cries, muffled by the sound of shower water pouring down onto him. His hair was damp, covering most parts of his face. He leaned his hand against the tiled wall, letting his mind drift back into reality and opened his eyes.

Scars from the past decorated his back, but the most prominent one was a long slash that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip and all the way across his back. He’ll always remember how he got it, not from an experiment, but from an attempt at controlling his powers.

His younger self had been placed into a large empty room, surrounded by robots that moved to attack him. He remembers the monstrous fear he felt at the time, using his power to defend himself against most of them. But one slipped through and managed to land a critical hit.

He’d been badly hurt and as a result, spent most of his days on his bed back in their room. Lance had been blowing on the wound, as if the wind would magically heal the scar and make it disappear. They had just begun learning how to read at the time, but when Uncle Sam introduced them to fairytales and fictional stories, they were dazzled by it. They took in every word that was said like a sponge, engraving parts of the stories they liked into their memories and understanding of the world.

It was the only way they could learn. They were forbidden to go out by themselves and learn about what the world was really like. All they knew was darkness and the cold back then, and the warmth of each other.

Keith closed his eyes, recalling that time when he was stuck in bed. They started taking Lance out at his replacement, and he felt incredibly guilty for it, even as a four year old. He still feels guilty at remembering the way Lance would return to their room, making his way over to the bed before settling down next to Keith.

They would always hug each other as tight as they could whenever they returned from the labs. Relishing the warmth they had to offer one another.

In the shower, Keith raised his hand up and behind his back, managing to trace his finger on a small part of the scar, unable to see the rest except with a mirror.

He switched off the water, having rinsed his body and hair clean. He put on new clothing that Colleen left behind for him, liking the feeling of fresh cotton against his skin. The cotton shirt was soft against his skin, as well as the loose jogging pants he put on.

His body moved absentmindedly to take the drier that was to the left, switching it on and pointing it at his hair. And while he dried his hair, his mind thought back to the facility but most importantly the news he’d seen yesterday.

It’s been three days since the arena incident and two days after the black market collapse. Days were moving too slowly for his liking, torturous in a way that he wasn’t getting anywhere. He felt hopeless, even now that he knew that Lance was out there and alive. A part of him had thought that Lance might have died and that he’d never see him ever again.

But the heavens took pity on him two days ago, not in a way that he’d like, but it was still the proof he needed. At the arena he’d only seen a picture, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was Lance. For all he knew, it could have all been an accident. But now he _knew_  and it made incredible relief wash over him.

His Lance was alive and somewhere out there, waiting for Keith to find him. And he’d do anything to find Lance, the only person that lived through hell with him. Keith had always been a fighter, it was the only way he knew how to live ever since moving in with the Shirogane family.

Life was different outside the facility, worlds apart, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t have challenges of it’s own. The constant fight for food and water, making sure that they had a roof above their heads, paying for medical bills, and then electricity as well. He’d chose this life over the facility any day, but he did admit to himself that he would choose the facility if Lance was there.

He fought against the pain, the shocks and the torture he was exposed to. Then he fought another enemy; poverty. He was a weakling at the beginning, and Shiro had work cut out for him once Keith decided to join him in the ring. But his fighting spirit prevailed, and he managed to carve his way to the top, second best only to his teacher and older brother.

He wouldn’t stop fighting now after all this time, no. He’ll fight for what he believes in, and right now, he had to fight for Lance. He understands that Shiro won’t let him get out of the house, but a lot was at stake here. He tries to comply, and sees the reasoning behind their words but it’s so hard to listen that it makes his skin crawl.

He wants out of this house to look around and search. He has to, especially now with what happened at the black market. Switching off the drier and letting his now clean hair fall against his shoulders, Keith made his way out and down the stairs, hoping to meet up with everyone else for breakfast.

He hadn’t had this good of a shower in a long time, and he never remembered his hair being this soft. Lance had a soft spot for his hair, maybe he’d appreciate the softness of it as well.

The noirette shook his head, trying to rid himself of such thoughts. There was nothing he could do right now, he reminded himself, repeating it like a mantra. The best thing he could do was keep his head down, Shiro had said so.

Still, he couldn’t help but twirl a lock between his fingers, testing the strange softness. He’s never been able to afford anything more than cheap shampoo before, had always thought that the insistence that the more expensive stuff worked was a lie for richer folk. Apparently not. He couldn’t help but wonder what other rich stuff was true.

Everyone else was gathered in the kitchen. They must have been talking about something with the facility, because they quieted from hushed whispers to absolute silence when he walked in. That was annoying at best, and more than a little patronizing in Keith’s opinion, but he was too tired to call them out on it.

“Do name brand products really taste better than store brand?” Keith asked as he strolled over to the table, pulling out his seat and settling at the table, “I’ve always wondered if that was true?”

Pidge gasped, horrified, “You only eat  _store brand?”_

“It’s cheaper.” Shiro shrugged, “Adam, Keith, and I made decent wages, but jammers are expensive. Didn’t leave a lot of money between that, rent, bills, and necessities.”

“This is a sin.” Pidge shook her head.

“It happens.” Shiro informs her, placing a hand on the table and sipping from a coffee cup, “This coffee is certainly better than what I usually drink.”

Colleen decided to join them at the table, placing down a plate as they did. She had come home yesterday with ruffled hair and a dazed look, having been at the market during both the explosion and Hunk's brawl, “We have more than enough name brand foods for you to try.”

“Thanks Colleen.” Shiro smiled.

Keith, ever the mood ruiner, decided that _now_  he had enough energy to ask about their hushed conversation, when they thought they’d gotten away with it and weren’t thinking of excuses, “So what were you talking about that you didn’t want me to hear? The facility?”

That caused them to quiet down real fast again. Keith rolled his eyes at the obvious attempt to protect him, “You know I remember what they did to me, right? You don’t have to hide it.”

“We know Keith.” Shiro sighed, placing down his cup, “But we’re...worried that you may not be dealing with this in a healthy way. Most people aren’t so...callous with the idea that their personal torture is going to be exposed online.”

“I want justice too.” Keith shrugged, mouth set in a frown, “And it’s not like  _I’m_  going to watch it.”

“We’re worried.” Colleen sighed, looked suddenly old, “That’s all.”

“Yeah man.” Hunk looked at him tiredly, “This could have a bigger impact on you than you actually think. A lot of people will see it.”

“And that’s what we want.” Keith brushed them off, reaching over to grab the box of cereal. It was the usual one he liked to eat but he wondered if there were brand name boxes anywhere in the kitchen, “The more people see it the better. You’re all making a much bigger deal out of it than it already is. I said I won’t watch it.”

“So you’re okay with not watching the news then?” Pidge inquired curiously.

“The news?” The noirette paused, “I need to watch that.”

“You won’t be able to once we release this. It’ll be everywhere unless the government decides to take matters into their own hands and take it down themselves.” Pidge could fight to keep the video online, but even she wouldn’t be able to keep on fighting a bunch of top government hackers. The worst that could happen is that they find their location and expose them.

“You can’t take the news away from me.” Keith narrowed his eyes, “It’s the only way I’ll know what’s happening outside. What if Lance comes out and there’s another blast? I need to know about it as soon as it happens.”

“We can tell you as soon as something happens.” Matt supplied, “But you’ll still be deprived of your source of information.”

“No.” Keith frowned, and unexpectedly, they found themselves at a standstill.

“Then we can’t post the video. You said you wouldn’t watch it, so there you have it.” Pidge pointed her spoon at him, jumping off her seat to rummage through the shelves. Once she spotted what she was searching for she sat back down, pushing another box of cereal Keith’s way, “You can try these. You might not like them, but they’re brand name.”

“You’re all nuts.” Keith grabbed the cereal, pouring it into his bowl anxiously, “Maybe it won’t even come up on the news. If I don’t have the news, then I have no way of knowing what’s happening. What if something big happens? What if Shiro 2.0 shows again? What if Lance causes another shockwave? Even worse, what if he’s captured? I wouldn’t know anything.”

“Keith…” Shiro massaged his temples, “I know what you’re trying to say but if we’re going to release the tape, then we _really_  don’t want you watching it. You either have to compromise or we won’t release them.”

“If you agree to our terms, then we’ll release it. The choice is yours.” Pidge added, giving Keith the final decision here.

“I swear, you’re all a bunch of fucking idiots.” Keith huffs, shoving a bite of cereal into his mouth. It was true though, they were being dumb. What did they think they could do to stop him? And did they  _really_  think Luxia would play those clips live?

“Hey!” Pidge pointed at him angrily, “You take that back!”

“Pidge, I have been flayed, cut open, beaten down, exposed to dangerous chemicals, and put through various tests.” Keith lists off on one hand, extending or retracting a finger with every torment he could remember, “I’ve been exposed to temperature torture, put through psychological torment to test reactive biotic use, had needles shoved into me, had…”

“Okay! Stop, stop, stop!” Hunk cried, face paling and hands waving. He looked ready to puke, and Keith could only eye him critically as the man blanched, “I don’t wanna hear anymore!”

“This is some dark web shit.” Keith told him, straight faced and unforgiving, “And if you upload it, which I don’t care if you do, then they’re _not_  going to _show_  it on the news  _where children could see it_. The government may suck but the public is decent enough to not expose children to that shit, same as the arena.”

“You don’t know that for sure Keith.” Shiro, pale faced and with shaking hands, exhaled. “We don’t know what’s decent these days. It’s hard to tell. They could just caution graphic images and show you getting tortured. I don’t want to see that, and I don’t want _you_  to see that.”

“Why am I the only one acknowledging that we were always going to have to expose the experiments?” Keith sighed into his cereal bowl, annoyed. He turned to Pidge, looking straight at her, “If you  _really_  want to do this right you’d send Luxia an anonymous email with the video files. She’d eat that up like candy.”

“Keith…” Colleen prodded gently, “Are you sure you’re not just being impatient?”

“Yeah bro, exposing videos of you like that isn’t going to help you find Lance any faster.” Matt winched again.

“I don’t give a shit if you send out the videos.” Keith shrugged, eyeing everyone at the table, “I’ve been through all that shit already, I’ve told you, I’m just trying to make sure you don’t hold back because you’re scared I’m going to get hurt somehow. But trust me when I say that nothing was worse than living through it.”

“Keith, you failed biology at school because you couldn’t cut open a frog.” Shiro reminded, gently placing his cup down, eyes locked onto his brother, “Mom had to fight the school about it and get you officially labeled as having PTSD. You had to be excused from the required biology courses and substitute it with another science course.”

“Man, we don’t want you having a panic attack or flashbacks is all.” Hunk finally broke down. His doe-like eyes were on Keith, reminding the pale boy of when he first watched Bambi. It was a pitiful sight, seeing the giant and muscled man look so sad, Keith almost wanted to hug him.

“I _can_  just walk out of the room if they start playing the clips.” Keith reassured Hunk. It was the most he was willing to do for the other right now, because he wasn’t about to throw himself at a guy he’s only known for two days, he just couldn’t trust that quickly. “It’s easy to mute too. You don’t have to blacklist me, you just need someone to monitor it. It’s not like you or Shiro are doing much else these days.”

“Keith…” Shiro put his cup down, “I don’t want to watch videos of  _my little brother being tortured as a child.”_

“Then have Matt or Hunk monitor it.” Keith shrugged, “Or Pidge can work next to us. This doesn’t have to be difficult. You can blacklist yourself from the news.”

“For a guy that doesn’t care whether we upload the videos or not you sure seem to have thought a lot about this.” Matt crosses his arms suspiciously, eyeing Keith with mild disapproval.

“Because it  _is_  going to directly affect me if you do.” Keith admits, and yeah he’s thought long and hard about it. People were going to _know_ , and it was going to follow him for the rest of his life once they did. The videos weren’t important, because if they were going to expose the government then people would know anyway, even if they didn’t know the full extent of what happened. “I’ve come to terms with it, I’m just trying to help you do the same so you can decide what to do.”

“And what do you want Keith?” Pidge sighs, “Because I honestly can’t tell.”

“I told you. I don’t give a shit.” Keith blows a strand of hair out of his face, “I’m just saying that the videos would help make the experiments seem more real to the public. Papers and numbers are one thing, proof, but impersonal. A video of a little kid begging not to be hurt? That’s something else.”

Keith, more than tired of this conversation, chose to finish it, “Do whatever the hell  _you_  want, just don’t use my trauma or whatever as an excuse not to. I already think it’s better to release them. But it’s your decision if you want to be the one to expose this. This is your fight for justice too, and it’s your father they’re going to be debating over just as much as me.”

Silence fell over them all, air heavy around them as they thought of what to do. It was a difficult decision to make, one that could possibly better their odds against the government, but it would come with a price. Now came the question; would it be worth it to damage Keith’s dignity or release the video and possibly have it brushed aside by the government?

“I don’t know Keith. It’s a tough choice we’re making.” Shiro sighed, running his hand through white hair. He would feel much better if he could ask Adam for help, but the problem was that he wasn’t here. If only Adam was here, he’d know what to do in a situation like this.

“So we’re making the final call here.” Matt folded his arms, looking over at the rest of them, “Maybe we should vote on it?”

“You’d vote on something like this? Now way! I’m still against it, sorry Keith.” Hunk apologised, not feeling guilty at all. They shouldn’t have to do this against a government that can say that the clips were staged for the purpose of damaging them. There were a lot of things that could happen, and none of them were looking good for them.

“Here’s the tea.” Pidge spoke up, “It would be useless to upload the videos now anyway. The only thing we’d be doing is provoking the government, and before we know it, they’ll identify our location and chase us down like rats.” Her hazel eyes flew over to Keith, “We’ll use the clips, but only if we have to. For now, they wouldn’t help us. Not at this point in time.”

“I hope we don’t get to a point where we’d need to use them.” Hunk whined but everyone seemed to agree with the idea.

“Didn’t you want to damage the government?” Keith asked suspiciously, “You’re awfully considerate for someone who wants to bring biotics out into the light.”

“Take it as you will.” The girl shrugged, “Dad wouldn’t have released the video so neither will I. Call me dumb or whatever but the way I see it, it’s pointless either way. You’re here safe, cozy, and just out of a nice shower. I don’t see a need to release it for now.”

Keith stared at her, a bit surprised but he wouldn’t admit it. He turned his attention onto his cereal again, shrugging, “Do whatever makes you feel better.”

“I certainly will.” Pidge shoved a spoonful of cereal in her mouth, chewing on it contently.

“Would anyone like some eggs? I’m making omelettes.” Collen asked from beside the stove, hands flying up right away.

“Keith wants one too!” Hunk smiled towards the noirette, all the while Keith rolled his eyes. He took a bite of his cereal, although he’ll admit that he wants to try the eggs. Only he wouldn’t say it out loud.

He eyed the eggs in appreciation as Colleen slid him a plate, getting a sniff of their delicious smell. He was still wary of eating other people’s food, something that wouldn’t leave him for a long time but… it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Eat up everyone. We have a lot to do today.” Matt said, pointing to everyone with his spoon, “Like search the net.”

“And watch the news, because you know, we can watch the news knowing that we won’t see a specific something in there.” Hunk bumped his two index fingers while Keith sent him an unamused look, honestly not caring at this point.

“The news won’t tell us anything.” The pale boy grumbled, “It’s useless if we want real information.”

“Keith is right.” Shiro agreed, wise enough to know that the government wouldn’t allow Luxia or anyone else to show something they didn’t want to be shown. He turned to Pidge, “Do you have any source of information we could use? Rebels should have those.”

“We do.” The girl nodded, “There’s the information trader that was dealing in our district but, well, who knows where he is now. Apart from that, we also have our communication channels. The internet allows the government to track us but there are parts of the internet that even the government can’t see. The dark web, we rebels use it to store damaging information regarding the government.”

“You had something like that and didn’t use it?” Keith asked in surprise.

“Getting into the dark web is difficult.” Pidge shrugged, “It’s firewall protected by our best hackers, including yours truly.”

“There’s also a lot of other sick shit on there.” Matt chewed on his omelette, teeth grinding against the fork maybe a little more than necessary, “Like Peter Scully, that sick fuck that had a website dedicated to…”

Matt eyed Keith, wincing and stopping himself as he realized just who was sitting in front of him and how similar it was to the problem at hand, “...point is that you have to figure out how to access that dark web _and_  navigate through the sick shit to get to rebel databases. We kind of hide behind a lot of illegal shit to keep us from getting caught.”

“I can’t stand going onto the dark web.” Hunk looked sick again, pushing his empty plate away and leaning back to take a deep breath. “I have to have Matt get me to the right sites before I even look at the screens.”

“We could probably get information from other rebels about where Lance is and what the government is doing though.” Pidge hummed, finishing off her omelette, dumping her plate on top of Hunk’s and standing up to brush off her pants, “I’m going to go check and see what updates they’ve made.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Hunk perked up, turning to Keith, “I actually did run into Lance yesterday!”

 _“What?”_ Keith stood up, knocking back his chair, “When? Where? Why isn’t he here?”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy.” Hunk threw up his hands in surrender, trying to calm down the boy. “It was when we got caught up in the smoke bomb yesterday! I tried to tell him I know where you are, but he didn’t believe me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that _yesterday?”_ Matt gapped.

“I was a little worried!” Hunk defended, “Lotor’s generals were there and beating up an old guy pretty bad!”

 _“What_  old guy?” Pidge threw her arms up, “This is pretty important information to just forget Hunk!”

“I got kicked in the genitals by the blonde girl with Lance! Sorry if things got a little confusing after that!”

“What did he  _say?”_ Keith demands, practically crawling across the table to Hunk, “What happened?”

“Did you say  _Lotor’s_  generals? As in the president’s  _son_  Lotor?” Shiro’s face went deadly serious.

“Hold on! Give me a minute!” Hunk waved his hands, trying desperately to stop the sudden gang-up, “A lot of things happened and it happened fast! I threw a smoke bomb, there was an Indian guy, Lance said he was was going to find you…”

“Just give us the whole story dear.” Colleen sighed, standing up to rein in her children, “Explain what happened in your own words.”

“I would if you’d all just give me some space!” Poor Hunk cried loudly, “Oh my god, your breath stinks Matt.”

“Don’t complain about my scent and start talking! You have a lot of things to explain!” The older Holt sibling managed to chase everyone away, leaving Keith holding onto the front of Hunk’s yellow shirt, “You too Keith! Let go!”

“I need answers.  _Tell_  me what happened Hunk. I _need_  to know.” The ravenette growled, only moving away when Shiro pulled on his shirt. He managed to get Keith down, holding onto him just in case he would get up again.

“I can’t believe you forgot about this Hunk! Dark web? Pfft!! You have all we need! Now fess up or it’ll cost you!” Pidge threatened, only stopping when Colleen moved to stand between her and the victim.

“Everyone calm down.” The older woman said gently, “Let’s hear what Hunk has to say.”

“Y-Yeah.” The boy sighed in relief, itching as he noticed the irritated stares. “Okay so Matt and I went to check the black market that was attacked. We split up and then I ran into Acxa who had this strange device in her hand.” He explained, turning to Pidge for this part of the story.

“I think she was following a trail of dark matter. Dark matter is everywhere but she must have picked up on a larger quantity of it.” And who else has more dark matter than the two biotics?

“You’re saying they developed the same device as me!?” Pidge asked in surprise, standing up from her chair.

“Yeah, it looks like it.” Hunk remained seated, watching as the girl sat back down and then took a deep breath.

“Okay, okay, I should have expected them to make something like that. They would have made it eventually. Fuck.” The girl cursed, Colleen telling her off right away to which she apologised.

“The device led her to the park.” Hunk continued, “And that’s when I spotted three people walking out of a gazebo. It was Lance, the blonde girl, and then an older woman. I’m not sure why but Lance was wearing a dress and had long hair, but I couldn’t see them clearly so I’m not really sure.”

 _“What!?”_ Keith was about to sit up from his seat when Shiro pushed him down, “Calm down Keith. Let Hunk finish.” And the noirette complied, grumbling and waiting.

“The generals were about to attack them, and that’s when I threw my smoke bomb. I ran into the smoke to get them but then got knocked out by the blonde girl. They seemed to be startled and didn’t really know what was happening. After… regaining some sense of reality, I reached out to grab anything I could, and it was Lance. I think it was him, and I told him that I knew where Keith was.” He turned to the pale boy now.

“Lance told me that if I really know where you are, that I should tell you that he’s looking for you. He didn’t believe me though and before I knew it someone hit me again and I was on the ground. This time it was an older guy, coming in and yelling stuff in an Indian accent.” Hunk moved his hands in the air as he spoke.

“Lance and the rest called him ‘Slav’ so that must be his name. That’s the last thing I remember before I lost sight of them and the smoke slowly started to clear up. Matt came in and rescued me before anything could happen, which by the way! I could have been captured by Lotor’s generals! They heard me saying that I knew where Keith was! They were onto me!”

“And you came  _here?”_ Shiro stressed, pulling his hair.

“ _Dr. Slav_  is alive?” Keith’s eyes blew wide, disbelief painting his features as he gasped at the larger man, “I thought for sure he’d be dead!”

“We spent last night in the safe house!” Matt exclaimed hurriedly, waving his arms at Shiro, “Don’t worry! I checked us for trackers!”

“Wait? The Dr. Slav from the videos?  _That_  Dr. Slav?” Pidge’s brow rose, her eyes blinking in confusion, “But he’s listed as legally deceased!”

“Apparently not!” Keith brushed his hands through his hair, “How many Indian guys are named Slav?”

“So he, what, faked his own death?” Matt frowned, scratching his chin, “Is Slav even his real name?”

“I don’t know.” Keith growled, confused now, “So Lance is looking for me and he’s with Dr. Slav now?”

“It sounds like the case.” Shiro sighed, rubbing his forehead, the bags under his eyes growing, “Though we can’t be certain.”

“In either case finding Slav would be helpful.” Matt scratched his chin, looking thoughtful, “He’s clearly doing his own thing against the government, and may have more information  _as well_  as Lance’s location.”

“So we finally have a lead!” Pidge grinned, “And we didn’t even have to go on the dark web. Sweet.”

“And you said Lance was looking for me.” Keith asked, turning to Hunk again with a stern face, “That’s what he said? He’s looking for me?”

“Yeah.” Hunk nodded, “That’s what he said.”

Keith slumped against the table, letting out a long sigh of relief. Lance was safe, he was okay, whatever he was doing that put him so close to Allura Alteanis hadn’t exposed him yet, not if he had the freedom to look for him. And Lance _wanted_  to find him. Lance wanted to find him as much as Keith wanted to be found.

Pale fingers reached up for the pendent around his neck, brushing against the metal. Lance was out there, hopefully still safe, and they had a lead to find him. It was the best news he’d heard in days. Better than anything else that had been thrown on the table.

And, funnily enough, it looked like he owed Dr. Slav a big hug and a thanks when they found him.

 

* * *

 

“Are you telling me…” Kolivan scolded the Indian man, arms crossed and face stern, voice dangerously even, “...That you had Subject 003…”

“Lance.” Dr. Slav nervously put in, only for his brother to elbow him in the side and shush him. The other Slav had a better survival instinct in any case.

“...Lance then…” Kolivan continued, his eye narrowing the tiniest bit, “...and instead of securing him you  _took him home.”_

“He...he...he…” Dr. Slav stuttered nervously, “He was going to blow up the car with dark matter! There was a 100% chance we would have all died if he had!”

“So he was willing to kill four people, two of which are his friends, and possibly himself just to get his way?” Kolivan raised an eyebrow at the doctor, “If that’s the case then perhaps we are better off eliminating the threat and burning his body.”

“No!” Dr. Slav gasped, horrified, “No, no, no! There...there...there is a 99% chance that we will all die if you do!”

“Perhaps.” Kolivan nodded, face neutral, “Or perhaps you are simply lying to me about your fear of what he would have done. Perhaps you simply are too soft hearted for this mission and wanted to give in to his demands. You _have_  known him since he was a child.”

Dr. Slav squirmed.

“Need I remind you, doctor, what is at stake here.” Kolivan’s finger tapped against his crossed arm, “If Zarkon and Haggar get their hands on those two then they’ll have much more than discomfort to deal with. At _best_  one of them will die a painful death.”

Dr. Slav whimpered.

 

* * *

 

Lance hummed contently in bed, a huge smile on his face as he laid down on his chest, legs swinging left and right behind him. There was a small blush on his face, and since he was alone, he didn’t have to hide it.

Beside him were the stack of letters and stories that younger Keith wrote in the past, and reading what he did so far, all of this seemed genuine. It had everything the both of them talked about, all the way from their secret promises up to the words they made up as kids. This _had_  to be real because there is just no way it couldn’t be.

Lance decided to see it as genuine, humming contently as he read a love letter once again, indulging in the way Keith innocently proclaimed his love for him. The younger him definitely wouldn’t have seen it, and merely taken it as a game, maybe something Keith did as well, but… Lance didn’t write letters. If anything, little Keith was dedicated in his expression of love. Then again, Lance was way more vocal about things like these than Keith was. The poor boy must have felt that he wasn’t doing enough and thus the letters.

But the funny thing is that Lance never saw these letters before, ever. Did Keith hide them? How come they weren’t destroyed? Was it Uncle Sam’s doing? It probably was now that he thought about it but it was still strange. If Keith wanted to express his love, then why didn’t he give it to him? Lance’s younger self would have  _adored_  these letters and it confused him.

Keith was on the shyer side back then so Lance guessed that must be it. If that’s the case then that is so incredibly cute. He pushed away any dark thoughts he had, focusing on reading the letter again.

_‘Roses ae rad and buttfel ae pink_

_I wat to kss you liek the prnce kss the prncess_

_I liek you eye becau they jest liek the sky_

_Plese be my frend forever_

_Loe loe 004.’_

This must have been written before they’d given each other names. It would also explain younger Keith’s lack of vocabulary. Such sweet childhood innocence… It warmed Lance’s heart. He couldn’t prevent his smile from widening, searching for a letter or story that was written after they named each other.

He flipped through the papers, finding a story young Keith had written. This story was about four pages long and told a tale of a mute Keith and a mermaid Lance. The story was cute, and surprisingly it also featured other two characters who were parent like figures, except they were two males.

Lance raised a brow at that, curious now. He had absolutely nothing against that, and anyway, queer people are the norm in their society, just like straight people. There was nothing to question here but young Keith’s choice to include parental figures in this story.

Rax, the oldest of the children, told them a lot about parents, as well as the nurses that were there. It was all the knowledge they had of them, and after reading this story, it seemed accurate. A loving pair, hard working and loving, as well as doting.

Lance put the paper down, flipping himself to the side to stare at the wall. A strange thought entered his mind that maybe he’d been blind to as a young child. The innocent him wouldn’t have noticed it back then but it could very well be that Keith _really_  wanted parents.

He didn’t want to lie, Lance wanted them too, but Keith never said it as clearly as he portrayed it in his story which made Lance feel incredibly guilty. Were there things his younger self overlooked? Probably… most likely…

Lance sighed, raising his hand up and bringing his bracelet up in the air to switch on the hologram. He pulled up a screenshot of Keith back in the arena, blushing as he looked at the image. Keith had changed, they both had.

The one thing Lance noticed right away was just how handsome Keith had gotten. He was a catch, a definite win for anyone who would dare try. He had muscles in all the right places, as well as a sharper chin, and yet some of those soft features still remained. He couldn’t see the bottom of Keith’s face so he focused on the eyes, violet just as he remembered them. Long eyelashes decorating the eyelids, thick eyebrows furrowed in a wary look.

Damn… Someone should have told Keith that this was illegal because he was breaking all the damn rules.

Tanned fingers reached under his shirt, pulling out the locket from underneath. He opened it and let it play, a memory of Slav coming back to him. Only this memory wasn’t from twelve years ago, but was from yesterday when he, Romelle, and Coran had gotten home.

“Lance!” Slav grabbed onto his hand as he went to get out of the car, holding tightly while looking into his blue eyes, “Be careful! There are a lot of people looking for you and the probability that they’ll find you is high.”

“I can take care of myself.” Lance met the other’s eyes, biting his lower lip, “So you really won’t tell me where Keith is?”

“I… I…” Slav hesitated, and as much as Lance hoped that he would, he didn’t, “I can’t, I’m sorry. But know that he is safe for now. There is a 67% chance that he’ll remain safe for at least a couple of days.”

The brunette hissed, “I thought I could trust you Dr. Slav. I thought _you_  would understand.”

Slav seemed anxious, holding onto Lance’s hand as he lowered his gaze, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” And that was the last straw that got Lance to pull away, storming back into the house with Romelle and Coran behind him. He closed the door behind them with a thud, hissing loudly.

“Are you okay?” Romelle squeezed his shoulder as Lance shook his head.

“No, I feel like this was a huge waste of time! We still didn’t find Keith!” Lance slid his down the door, curling in on himself, “What if he’s gone?”

“T-That’s not true! This is just your depression getting the better of you.” Romelle kneeled down beside him, “He’s still out there. That guy says so.”

“A guy who we don’t know. For all we know, _he_  could have been the one to kidnap Keith.” Lance cried, unwilling to look up.

“What? Did you see him? I took care of that guy no problem! If he’s the one who took Keith then he surely didn’t take him by force! That guy is a weakling.” Romelle assured while Lance sighed. “Alright! Enough moping around, get up! Let’s get you to the shower and then bed!” She pulled on his hand and Lance pulled back, that is before a sudden beeping from Lance’s bracelet stopped them.

“A new message? Who is it?” Coran asked curiously, leaning in forward. Lance brought his wrist closer, seeing none other than a message from Slav.

‘Here is my contact information. If you change your mind, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll always be on you and Keith’s side. From: Slav.’

“He left you his contact info? Is that safe?” Romelle asked warily but Lance could only stare at the message.

“It should be safe. If Lance didn’t give him access to his contacts then there’s nothing to worry about.” Coran turned, heading further into the house, “It’s good to be back home!” The man happily exclaimed, and then the three of them went their separate ways. Lance made sure to take that bath and then lay on his bed before falling asleep. He’d managed to make up the sleep he lost yesterday, and he was much more exhausted than he thought he was.

Now, a day after, Lance found himself surrounded by Keith’s letters and stories, along with Dr. Slav’s contact in his bracelet. Everything was just so, so confusing. Who were those men with Dr. Slav? And what base was it that they were trying to take him to?

Something felt weird and he didn’t like it. Keith’s letters made him feel a little better but they were a mystery themselves. How did they get where they did and why didn’t Keith ever give it to them as kids? He felt very uneasy all of a sudden.

Lance bit his lip, honestly debating calling Dr. Slav, if only because he wanted to ask about the stories. They felt real, really real, but they just didn’t make sense to him. It was obvious they were Keith’s, but how they ended up with that Info broker was...it had to have been through Dr. Slav, hadn’t it?

Yes, that was obviously it. He didn’t even have to call Dr. Slav to answer that question. Uncle Sam and Dr. Slav probably kept them. No, what he really wanted to know about was Keith. He _needed_  to know where he was. He _needed_  to know for sure if he was safe. A fleeting promise wasn’t enough.

The tanned boy bit his lip. Dr. Slav wouldn’t share that information, would he? Lance knew himself well enough to know that he’d be out the door the moment he had Keith’s location. There would be no stopping him, no reasoning with him, he’d be gone. No promises would stop him.

He rolled on his side, waving off the screen and staring at the papers surrounding him. He picked one up, holding it to look at. It was a crude drawing of what was probably him and Keith riding on top of what looked like lions. The tiny stick figure Keith held a sword, and him held what must have been a bow.

Lance chuckled, clutching the paper to his chest. Keith must have written these whenever they were separated, he decided, and probably hid them out of shyness.

And then suddenly his eyes were a bit teary even as he chuckled, because these tiny papers were  _Keith’s_. They were an insight to Keith’s thoughts and his hopes and his dreams. And Lance could pick out the little clues from the papers and make a rough timeline from each of them. Like drawing Lance and a shark that had to have come when Uncle Sam first brought in a book about the ocean and he’d fallen in love and proclaimed sharks as his favorite animal. Or the story about Batman and the clown that must have been written after their first comic. And in every single letter and story he was there, right by Keith’s side, and the sheer hopeful innocence and love Keith had back then was enough to leave him a bawling mess in the middle of the bed, clutching papers to his chest to try and fill the hole that innocent love had left behind.

And it’s right here, crying his eyes out and reading words older than some of his scars that Lance realizes he doesn’t just _want_  to find Keith, he _needs_  to find him. He _needs_  Keith like he needs an arm. Yes, he could survive without him, but the phantom pain would always let him know there was something missing.

He didn’t know what he would do if Keith wasn’t looking for him. If that innocent love had faded and left him behind, moved on to something else. He couldn’t bear the thought that someone so intertwined with everything he was wanted to pull away.

Was it healthy? He didn’t know. He also didn’t care. No one,  _no one_  would ever know him the way Keith so obviously did.

Lance sniffed, smoothing out a paper and holding it up to his face.

_‘My favorte coler is red, yours is blue,_

_I relly relly liek you_

_I want to mary you to_

_And well get a dog_

_Love, Keeth'_

Blue eyes watered, lips quivering into a shaky smile. He sniffed, smoothing the papers flat. No, no Keith would never leave him. Even if that innocent love had faded Keith would still be there. Keith, no matter what, no matter how he changed, was still Keith deep down. And if there was one thing Lance had learned in the labs it was that they would always be Keith _and_  Lance.

Right, and here he was crying for nothing. His smile widened, wiping at his eyes before sitting up on the bed. He gathered the papers, neatly folding them all in one pile. He’ll treasure them more than anything he has in this room and then one day he’ll show them to Keith himself. That was the goal he made for himself, fully intending to make it happen.

Lance made his way to the shower. The cool water would help him calm a bit, and then he’d think of the next course of action. Today was a new day, which meant that it was another twelve hours he could use to go out and look for Keith. But while he wanted to find Keith more than anything, the city was _huge_. There was no way he would be able to find one person, especially if they lived in different Districts. If Uncle Sam had taken Keith into another District, then it would be extremely difficult for the both of them to find each other. The odds were against them, it was the reason they hadn’t found each other for twelve years.

But if he got one thing from Slav, whichever one of them it was, it was that Keith was in District Six. If true, then this shrinks his searching field unexpectedly closer to home than he imagined.

Lance scrubbed his hair, thinking of what he could do to try and find the noirette. He didn’t have Keith’s contact, unless he asked the arena about it… That’s one option. Then there was this Adam person who was apparently the Champion’s significant other. He probably won’t get anything out of that guy, he could try but there would be a lot more risks with that one.

Then there was Dr. Slav but he already said that he won’t reveal Keith’s location, which frustrated Lance to no end. If he reached the boiling point, he’d strangle Slav and-Oh… He doesn’t know where Slav is. Perfect, then that one is out as well.

In the end he was left with no options, which left him considering the internet as his best shot of contacting Keith. What if he made a video? Or a voice recording and uploaded it? Would Keith see it? If it didn’t have his face, would it work?

But the problem with that is that the internet is vast, and the chances of Keith seeing it were low… He’s back to square one now.

He bit his lip, deciding to start with the basics and see what he could find. He pulled up the search bar on his bracelet, typing in the words ‘Adam’, ‘Champion’, and ‘Keith Kogane’. It took less than a tick for the results to pop up.

There were a lot of news articles, some news clips, a few forms had gone up, and even a wiki page of general information had been developed. Lance decided to play it safe and click on that one. he wasn’t foolish enough to think that the information would give him much, what with how monitored everything was by the government, but there had to be _something_  there. Something safe that wouldn’t endanger him at least. An address or knowledge of where Keith had been the last twelve years and who he had been with.

What he found was that Keith had apparently been living with Shiro and Adam, the Shirogane family. They’ve showed this Adam person on the news as Shiro’s partner so the information matched. There were images of the place as well, and Lance was surprised to see what a poverty stricken apartment complex it was.

His blue eyes were glued onto his holoscreen, and even though it would be better for him to finish his shower and then look at the information, he couldn’t find it in himself to look away. The apartment complex was in District Four, in the same District where the colosseum was. It made sense if Keith was a fighter and commuted between his home and the arena.

Lance pulled up more pictures, guilt eating away at him as he looked at the state of the District. There was no greenery in sight, only blocks and shining neon lights all around. This was the place Keith grew up in, all while Lance had lived in a luxurious house, surrounded by guards and the occasional housekeepers. Most rich folk had maids to boot but Allura wasn’t privy to that. If you can sleep in a bed, then you could tidy it up as well. Such was her philosophy and it applied to all of them.

Lance switched off his holoscreen, sighing heavily and letting the water of the shower soothe him. All bracelets were waterproof and the holoscreen would just let water pass through it as well.

He leaned his head against the tiled wall, letting himself relax before deciding that he had to go and talk to Allura. They had to do something,  _anything_  that would get them closer to Keith. Finishing washing, Lance turned off the water with a voice command, coming out and drying himself before putting on fresh clothes.

He couldn’t walk around with wet hair so he dried it before going out. He made his way out of his bedroom, pleased to see that Allura was in the living room, papers in hand with the news on the holoscreen before her. “Did anything happen?” Lance asked as he sat beside her, leaning back against the couch, eyes moving onto the screen.

They were showing the black market again, nothing new and no signs of Keith. Maybe that was a good thing though because if Keith ventured out of wherever he was, then it would put him in danger. The public was especially worried now that there had been two blasts in the span of two days. Some may be expecting another blast to happen today as well.

“Luckily nothing did.” Allura looked up from her papers, taking off her reading glasses and tilting her head to look at a news reporter that was commenting on a few images of the damage, “The less the public knows, the better it will be for us. If chaos ensues on the streets then it’ll give Zarkon the ability to extend his search without the need to hide.”

“You’re right.” Lance sighed, “But we have to do something. I can’t sit around here doing nothing. I just found out where Keith has been living for the past twelve years and-”

“It’s not your fault Lance.” Allura placed her hand on top of his own, “Neither you or Keith chose where you wanted to go. Just because you were brought to us doesn’t mean you’re guilty for it.”

“He was living in a poor apartment complex. It’s not hard to guess why.” Blue eyes met Allura’s own, “And you knew but didn’t tell me about it?”

“You’d blame yourself for it.” The woman lowered her gaze, “We cannot change the past but we can work on a better future. That’s what I’ve been doing while you were taking off your dress and makeup.”

“Don’t talk about it.” Lance hissed, “I’m never wearing that dress again.”

“How unfortunate. I think it suits you Lance.”

“Yeah, right.” The brunette crossed his arms while Allura smiled in amusement.

“But anyway.” She cleared her throat, “I’ve thought of our next course of action. You won’t be leaving the house for this, and you won’t be exposed to danger to boot.”

“What is it?” Lance asked curiously.

“Yesterday’s incident at the black market happened within District Six, the District I manage. It would only be appropriate that I address my people and assure them that everything is under control. Hira is already helping me arrange everything so we’ll be addressing the citizens no later than this afternoon.”

“A TV appearance!?” Lance sat up, thrilled by the idea. It was just like Allura to assure her citizens like this on TV, something a few District Managers did. She really was a generous woman, thinking of others first before her own wellbeing. After the incident, Allura had paid all the hospital bills for the ones affected, and also donated money from her own pocket to make sure that the damages were repaired as soon as possible. Needless to say that it made Lance feel incredibly guilty since he was the cause.

“Yes. During my address, we may be able to put in a secret message in there for Keith. Perhaps there is something we can say that only Keith would know. It would be difficult to put in a secret code but it’s a chance nonetheless.”

“I’ll do it.” Lance’s reply was immediate, “So I’ll have to think of something only Keith would know?”

“Yes.” Allura nodded, “Is there anything you remember?”

Lance hummed, hand leaned against his chin as he thought of what he could do. “You know how Romelle and Coran use this weird eyebrow language?” He asked and Allura nodded, “Keith and I had something like that when the scientists would take us into this weird white lab. We would be placed into two rooms, separated by walls of glass. We couldn’t hear each other, so we would use these hand gestures to try and talk.”

“That would be perfect.” Allura smiled, “We could send out a message that way then.”

“Yeah but I don’t remember much of it. They were really silly things that only kids could think of.” Some of them were really embarrassing too.

“All the better. The stranger it is, the more likely that it won’t be recognised by anyone.” Allura switched on the holoscreen of her bracelet, contacting her head of security Hira, “I’ll let Hira know about this.”

“Thanks Allura.” Lance smiled, feeling a wave of relief at the idea of finally doing something productive to finding Keith. Hopefully he’d either watch the news or see a clip later. He had to be keeping up with the news right? People on the run had to in order to know what was going on and keep up with how close the police was to finding them right?

Either way the chances of Keith seeing his message was high, he just had to remember what hand signals they made up. Most of them were ridiculous, requiring their entire arms, and some were tiny and silly. It was hard to remember which words were “I’m okay” or “I miss you”. Mostly he remembered silly ones like bird wings for wanting out or waving arms for wanting a hug.

He’d think of something before Allura’s TV appearance.

 

* * *

 

It had only been two days since Keith’s accidental outing at the arena and Adam was already driven to the edge by worry.

He wondered how long the reporters would camp outside his apartment. He knew his neighbours were already beside themselves with anger, watching from the windows as they tried to chase the reporters off the property, but that hardly worked. There were still about three vans parked outside, and every one of them were blocking the road outside his home.

They’d basically attacked his door yesterday after the second incident, demanding to know if he really hadn’t known about his fiancés supposed brother, Sven. He hadn't by the way, and he doubts Takashi or Keith had known about him either, supposing that was really a relative.

It was stressful, sitting here and staring at the news, desperately hoping for something that would tell him what was going on, some kind of sign that Takashi and Keith were safe, but all he had was the reassurance that they apparently weren’t caught yet. A dim hope at best, and not even one he could be sure was true, but one he was certainly holding on to.

He wishes he could leave the apartment, search for them himself, but it was simply too dangerous. The news vans were constantly watching him, and everyone knew his face now. Even with his constant assurances that he knew nothing about the attacks he didn’t doubt for a moment that there were those that didn’t believe him at all. Scapegoating was also very likely, and friends or family of anyone hurt in one of the two attacks were likely to target him out of some sense of vengeance. Or worse, someone wanted to perform vigilante justice. It would be foolish, considering the legal system in the city, but there were more fools here than not.

Adam sighed, placing down his tea cup, rubbing her forehead to rid himself of the headache. When this was over he was leaving this city. He honestly should have taken Takashi and Keith and fled long ago, but they’d never been able to afford buying their way out of a citizenship here. Well, now it wouldn’t matter, would it? He could gather what was left of their money once the accounts were unfrozen, find them, and flee. They could go anywhere else. Paris, Tokyo, Athens, even Ohio had to be better than this.

The tired man smiled, cracking his eyes back open to stare at the screen. His plan wasn’t a good one at all, but it was certainly nice. The problems were the same in most places, but it would be nice to see green again. Living in a city the size of a country was nice and all, but he never imagined he’d miss Greece’s blue waters so much.

He chuckled, reaching for his tea cup and sipping. He’d always dreamed of living is District Six, with its plantlife everywhere and it’s clean air. He’d never imagined he’d end up in District Four of all places though, easily one of the worst. Especially not with his job in the government handling and biodome design, but then he’d met Takashi and suddenly he had a friend and then it was love and then Keith had suddenly been more important than a house surrounded by gardens and trees.

Maybe it wasn’t too late to have both though? Once this was over. If this was ever over. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do if he lost Takashi and Keith, doesn’t even want to think about it, not yet, so he sits and hopes.

 

* * *

 

Shay took the day off work for the first time in a year today.

Usually she tries not to do such a thing. She only has three requested days off, her birthday, Hunk’s birthday, and what would have been Rax’s birthday. Those were the only days a year she absolutely wanted days off and the company she worked for was more than happy to give it to her. And it was easy for Hunk, who ran his own shop fixing mechanical limbs, to schedule around hers, so there was hardly ever a need to take off.

However, today she took a day off.

It had been three days since she’d spoken to her boyfriend. This wasn’t overly odd in and of itself. While Hunk was attentive and tried to either call her or see her everyday sometimes his work or rebel activity demanded his attention for a bit. She was understanding about it, as understanding as he was about her own needs, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling of wrongness this time.

She walked down the District Five main street, trying to shuffle her way towards District Six, the GAC from yesterday weighing heavily on her mind as she tried to remember the directions towards the home of his rebel friends. She remembered they lived in one of the biodomes, but she couldn’t recall the exact address. She knew the name was Holt, though, and she remember that much. Matt Holt, that had been the name of his friend, he was the only one she’d met.

All around her the holoscreens flickered, neon colors washing against the blue roads. People around here are a lot different from District Three, where she lived. There were a lot of mechanical limbs in sight, many wearing sleeveless shirts to show off their modifications, each styled and decorated with custom paint or lights, the mechanics built for a variety of different uses. It made her rub her own arms self consciously, the flesh feeling eye drawing and strange when she was surrounded by so many who didn’t have flesh for arms or legs. At least she was wearing jeans, she could take comfort in that.

Over on one tower a huge holoscreen was playing Luxia Queen’s news again, keeping people updated. Though the people of District Five seemed apathetic. They hadn’t been touched so far, and they were one of the wealthier Districts, being run by a particularly GAC savvy District Manager. Still, it seemed strange to her. District Three wasn’t the _poorest_  by a long shot, but they were definitely concerned whenever attacks were taking place. There wasn’t enough money to repair things if they were struck.

Shay sighed, rubbing her arms again. She  _should_  try calling Hunk again, but something told her she would need to be with him. Call it intuition, but she needed to see his face in real life, where she at least felt like she wasn’t being watched.

She continued walking down the long street, suddenly regretting that she didn’t take a taxi. District Five was vast and it would take her a while before she would reach District Six. Deciding that was a better idea, Shay pressed on her bracelet, ordering a taxi and waiting for it to come.

She sat on a holographic bench nearby, looking around at the many passing people. It was strange that even though they all lived in the same city, it felt like they were worlds apart somehow. It really was as if the city was the world, with the Districts being small countries within.

Her hazel brown eyes looked to the sides, not able to shake the strange feeling she had. Hugging herself, she anxiously waited for her taxi, and once it arrived she felt the relief practically ooze out of her. She got in much quicker than she’d like to admit, telling the driver to take her to District Six. Anywhere would do, she didn’t have the address, but at least it would help her get to the other District faster.

She looked out the window as they drove, trying to see if anyone was following her. She felt better in the car but the strange feeling didn’t leave her. It didn’t take long for then to arrive to District Six, and as soon as they passed the holo border that was set, the taxi stopped and Shay paid through her bracelet.

As soon as she got out of the car she could feel the significant change of air within the district. It felt much different than District Three or District Five, with actual plants and greenery around. She came to visit District Six many times in the past to see her grandmother that used to live here. She had fond memories of working with her grandmother in the garden, reminiscing as she looked at the trees and plants.

Then she felt the strange feeling creep up on her again, prompting her to keep on moving. She walked down the street, stopping at a stoplight and waiting for it to turn green. That’s when she spotted someone looking at her from the other side of the street, making eye contact. She felt herself shiver, turning to walk down the street on instinct.

Tilting her head to the side, she noticed that the person was now following her on the other side of the street, eyes on her. Shay felt her heart beginning to race, but she wasn’t panicked just yet. It could still be a coincidence.

She turned the corner, walking and waiting to see if the person would follow her. They did, not managing to cross the road so that they were behind her. That’s when Shay quickened her pace, careful not to bump into anyone.

She payed attention on the person following her that she didn’t see a person standing in front of her, bumping into him and flinching. “I-I’m so sorry.” She turned, spotting a tall female standing in front of her.

“It’s no trouble. You should watch where you’re going next time young lady.” She smiled and Shay returned the gesture, but it was then that she noticed that the woman was holding onto her hand with a tight grip, “Please come with me. I mean you no harm.”

“I-I’ll scream.” Shay warned, taking a step back but still unable to free her hand.

“We’re part of the rebels, assigned to watch you after the explosion at the arena. If you want to blame anyone then blame your boyfriend. He was the one who requested we watch over you in case his identity got leaked.” The woman looked to the sides to make sure nobody was watching, “I’ll tell you more but you have to come with me.”

Shay was taken aback, frozen in place while trying to decide if going with these people was a good idea. They were rebels and so was Hunk… “Okay.” Surely they would help her find her boyfriend.

The person that was following her joined them, walking into an alley nearby. Alone now, the woman let go of her hand, “I apologise for the way we approached you. I hope we didn’t startle you.”

“It’s fine.” Shay brushed her hands against each other, “As long as you’ll take me to Hunk.”

“Hunk is hiding.” The second person spoke up, “Something… happened, and he can’t show himself for a while. It’s a safety precaution.”

“What happened?” Shay found herself asking before even thinking about it, “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, don’t worry. He just can’t come ou-”

“So you’re Hunk’s girlfriend?” A new voice sounded, startling the two rebels and Shay who turned to the source, spotting a woman and a man to their side. How did they get there? She didn’t see them coming into the alley.

“Rolo and Nyma.” The woman rebel hissed, “What do you want?”

“We’re taking the lady over there with us. We got info that Hunk knows where this Keith Kogane is. There’s a high bounty for the kid going around and we’re more than interested.” Rolo clicked his tongue, pointing a gun at the three of them.

“We’re interested in both the bounty and the ways we can damage the government. Everyone is looking for the guy and the price is immense.” Nyma took a step forward, “Give us the girl.”

The two rebels tensed, letting Rolo and Nyma walk up to them. It was when Rolo reached for Shay that one of the rebels took action, trying to push the gun out of his hands. Rolo was the more experienced one though, overpowering her while Nyma took out the other rebel.

Shay leaned against the wall in fright, trembling in fear as the two approached her, grabbing her hand, “You’ll be fine with us sweetie. Now… Let’s go somewhere safe where you can call your boyfriend and tell him about us.” Rolo smirked, grabbing the poor Shay and leading her down further into darkness.

 

* * *

 

Keith was starting to wonder if his biotics affected dogs somehow. It felt like that was the case, with the way Bae Bae followed after him. The dog was usually on his heels for the most part, and the noirette had absolutely no clue why.

Secretly though, in the deepest part of his heart, he appreciated it. The dog’s soft fur felt warm on his skin, the lazy thing having taken residence on his lap while Keith perched on the couch to watch the news. The dog was needy, wanting constant attention and belly rubs. It was...nice...Keith wasn’t used to it.

He’s not a trusting person, so the last two days has been tense. The Holts were nice, and they genuinely seemed like decent people just trying to help him out to honor Uncle Sam’s memory, but he just...couldn’t. It was hard to trust people. And he just couldn’t help the coiling unease that came with interacting with them. Even with Shiro there he kept them at an arm's length, and he had yet to be alone with any of them.

Dogs though? Dogs he could trust. They were simple creatures; quiet and unexpecting. All they wanted was food and affection. They didn’t have secret agendas or anything, they just wanted to love and be loved in return. Just like him.

He always wanted a dog, ever since Uncle Sam first brought in animal books and Keith had read about the lovely creatures. Sure, his heart would always have a place for the hippo, but when it came to a creature he could trust with his heart the dogs always seemed the best. Looking at the pictures of the happy creatures bouncing across sunny yards, faces almost like smiles and fur fluffed everywhere, Keith’s tinny heart had been lost. Then he saw pictures of a wolf pack cuddling and he only fell deeper and deeper from there.

They were like Lance, he had decided, because his childhood sweetheart liked to cuddle just as much as the dogs in the pictures. So Lance would obviously like a dog too, one day, someday. Or at least in his most secret stories Lance would get a dog with him. And as far as tiny Keith was concerned those stories were as good as real when he tired to think about them while the doctors cut him up with their scalpels.

Now, here he was, twelve years later, and his small dream of cuddling a dog had finally come true. It was as wonderful as he always imagined, with the dog squirming against him, demanding more pats, fur so soft that Keith wanted to bury his face in it, sometimes an affectionate lick playing against his skin. He’d been too poor for a dog before, only able to watch from a distance whenever he saw the wonderful creatures, but now it felt like he’d finally achieved a long lost dream, the swell in his heart full of a simple joy he’d felt when he tried his first chocolate bar, or saw real plants for the first time.

If only Lance were here, then it’d be perfect.

He can see a perfect world, one where the nodes in his skin didn’t mean he was constantly in danger. One where Adam was on the end of this couch, sipping his coffee, Shiro at his side. And Lance would be right behind him, hold him while he cuddled this dog. Aki would still be alive, and Uncle Sam, and Dr. Slav, and some of those nice nurses that used to work for the labs. It was the most perfect thing he’d ever imagined. The kind of thing a younger him could only hastily scribble on bits of paper Uncle Sam slipped him, a rough crayon or pen in his hand as he hid under the bed and waited for his turn for testing.

He should be paying attention to the news, but they’d been saying the same thing all day and he had a _dog_  on his lap. Pidge was probably getting more information than him anyway, being the one who actually knew how to get new information right now. He idly wondered if she’d found information on Dr. Slav yet, probably, she seemed scarily competent. Between her and Matt it seemed they had a whole successful infiltration tactic planned out. And from what he’d seen of Hunk’s work he wasn’t a slacker either.

Pale hand brushed through white fur, pulling the dog even closer, earning him a lick on the cheek. Keith couldn’t help but smile, and man did it feel good to smile again. He doesn’t think he’s smiled since after the arena.

He let himself relax, body going limp, hands rubbing the happy animal demanding his attention. Yeah, this was the best he’d felt in a while. The stress of the situation affected him worse than he’d thought. Now he was a bit more at ease, knowing Lance was out there, alright and looking for him. It did more to ease him than he could have imagined, knowing that Lance still wanted to find him, still _cared_  as much as Keith did. It made his heart swell with something soft and warm, like melted chocolate.

“Having fun with my bae?” Keith was startled from his thoughts, tilting his head to the side to spot Pidge coming down the stairs. The girl had a holoscreen in front of her, going to sit next to him on the couch but giving him the space he needed, “Bae Bae took a liking to you.”

“Oh…” Keith muttered, awkward, but he wasn’t really sure what to say to that. This right here proved that he wasn’t a social butterfly.

“Anyway, I’m here with some news. It’s about Shiro.” The girl got straight to the point, gaining all of Keith’s attention, “Did something happen?”

“Nothing you don’t know about.” Pidge assured him, turning to face him, “I just found out a little something about Sven and I don’t know if I should tell Shiro or not, so I’m coming to you first. I don’t know how he would handle it, or you, but coming to you seems like the safer option anyway.”

Keith quirked a brow, hand patting Bae Bae’s tummy with a new sense of wariness. It was strange for people to approach him rather than Shiro so this already sent alarm bells his way. Worry washed over him, concerned what this could mean for his brother, “What is it?”

“Well…” Pidge paused, looking at her holoscreen, “Shiro and Sven are half brothers, same mum but different dads. It turns out the two of them really are related, which also means that Sven wasn’t lying… I think.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Keith asked critically, “Shiro and I never knew about him before.”

“Sven is the older brother and he left his mother while she was pregnant with Shiro apparently. Shiro never would have known he existed, and neither could you. I’m not here to judge, just state the truth.” She worriedly watched over Keith, “What do you want to do?”

“I’ll need to tell Shiro about this.” Oh god… How will Shiro react to this? And just as Keith was having a sweet moment with Bae Bae, it had to be interrupted, “He’ll be thrilled.”

“Sorry.” Pidge shrugged, “But in other news, Allura Alteanis is suppose to address the public on TV in about an hour. We’re in her District so we’ll need to listen to what she has to say.”

“It’ll probably be the same stuff.” Keith muttered absentmindedly, still thinking about the Sven issue. How could have Aki hide something like this from them? From her own son nonetheless. Was it something she didn’t want Shiro knowing? Still, Shiro deserved to know.

Nothing made sense anymore, and Keith suddenly felt uneasy, feeling his stomach churn. “Hey, are you okay?” He noticed Pidge lean closer to him, eyes filled with a tint of worry within them, something Keith wasn’t used to seeing on anyone beside Shiro, Aki and Adam.

“I’m fine.” Keith waved her off, folding his legs. Shiro deserved to know, and he’ll tell him as soon as he gathers himself. He continued patting Bae Bae, getting some comfort out of it.

“If you say so.” Pidge moved herself back, leaning against the backrest of the couch. She was hesitant on telling Keith the third bit of news she received, feeling uneasy at the prospect of telling Keith. This time she decided that it would be better to tell Shiro. She had to check up with him before showing Keith, just like she checked up with Keith about the whole Sven issue. “I’ll leave you with bae then. Watch out for the Allura interview.”

“Okay.” Keith muttered, clearly still pondering over the Sven issue. Pidge didn’t blame him though, Shiro, Aki, and Adam were Keith’s family, which means that Sven is family by extension as well. She was aware it would impact him, but she didn’t want to baby the other either. There were certain things she wouldn’t say in consideration to how Keith would handle it, but she thinks that she made the right choice here. No matter what kind of a big guy Shiro is, it would still affect him more than Keith.

But this other thing? That will in return affect Keith instead. She had to run this by Shiro first.

Pidge made her way to the garage where Shiro and Hunk were working on another prosthetic arm, creating it to be as efficient as possible. The two seemed to be in good mood before she entered. Shit, she hated being the bearer of bad news.

“Hey losers, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” She gained their attention, both of their eyes flying up to look at her.

“Hey Pidge, what is it? Anything happen?” Hunk placed his tools down, walking over to her with Shiro in tow.

“An image popped up on the internet but it looks super sketchy. I’m not showing Keith this before the two of you have a look at this. I’m not even sure if I should be showing Keith this at all.” She warned, pulling up her holoscreen once again, looking for the image.

Hunk and Shiro both tensed, looking at one another before returning their sights onto the girl, “Is it serious?” Shiro asked this time, hands nervously clenched on the sides.

“Depends on what you make of it.” Pidge found the image she was looking for, flipping it over to show the two. The image seemed to be taken from a distance, showing four Sentries in the distance with a single unconscious figure between them. There were men in white coats there as well, watching as the Sentry carried the figure inside a government bunkered car. Shiro and Hunk felt their blood freeze right then and there, able to make out the figure as the boy who looked like Lance.

Their eyes were wide, unmoving as they stared at the image, “W-Wait…” Hunk muttered, “Does that mean they got him?”

“I don’t know.” Pidge lowered her gaze, “The image could be real, but at the same time it could have been faked. The thing is though…”

“W-What?” Shiro may not know this boy himself, but he’d never want this to be a reality. Keith would be devastated, he’d have his heart broken if he ever saw the image.

“I found it in the rebel database, supposedly taken by one of ours. The angle it was taken from suggests they were hiding too, look.” There was a part of the wall to the right, giving a hint that the person was peeking at them from behind the wall. “It’s likely that it’s real but if it is, then this must have happened last night. You saw him yesterday Hunk.”

“M-Maybe they got him after the black market incident?” It’s very possible.

“I don’t know.” Pidge grumbled to herself, “I don’t want it to be true but it might be.”

“We can _not_  show this to Keith.” Shiro crossed his arms, squeezing them closer to his body, “We don’t even know if that’s really him, we can’t just run on the fly here, and if Keith sees that he’ll be out the door and caught before we can even begin to try and convince him otherwise.”

“It _looks_  like him.” Hunk squinted at the image, trying to gauge whether or not it was really Lance or just a lookalike. It was hard to tell from the angle, though. The guy in the photo wasn’t wearing a dress, though, like Lance had been. “He’s not wearing the right clothes.”

“It’s possible he could have changed clothes after the market incident and got caught.” Pidge pointed out gently.

“That fast though?” Shiro raised an eyebrow, trying to figure this out, “He would have had to get home, change, get caught, and been carried to that van without anyone but the rebels seeing. All in a short amount of time at that, and without anyone witnessing the arrest.”

“It might not be Lance.” Hunk put in, eyes screwing at the picture, “I’m pretty sure it’s not Lance, but this is bad news either way.”

“Yes, it is.” Pidge adjusts her glasses, staring at the two seriously, “Even if it’s not Lance, and I’m not dismissing the possibility yet, this is still bad news. It means that the Research Center knows what he looks like, knows who he is, and are looking for him too.”

“So it’s only a matter of time before he’s caught either way.” Shiro finishes, eyes narrowing on the photo, “Which means they’ll be able to focus on just finding Keith.”

“Exactly.” Pidge nodded, mouth forming a thin line, her free hand raising and pointing at the photo, “And they’ll arrest anyone who even so much as looks like them. Assuming that’s not _actually_  Lance.”

“It can’t be.” Hunk decided firmly, placing his hands against the kitchen table, “It’s just not right. The clothes are wrong. And where are his friends? And  _someone_  would have seen the arrest.”

“Unless it was silenced.” Pidge chewed her lip, “Media blackout for the area or something.”

“You would have known if it was a media blackout.” Hunk determined, resolved in his opinion, “That can’t be him.”

“We just don’t know.” Shiro shook his head before turning back towards Pidge, “Either way I wouldn’t show this to Keith. As much as he deserves to know I just don’t trust him not to rush out and try to save Lance on his own, and I certainly don’t want to risk that if it’s not really Lance.”

“Alright.” Pidge nodded, waving away the picture, “Whatever you think is best.”

“We’ll tell him when we’re absolutely _sure_  whether that’s Lance or not.” Shiro decided, hands tapping against his arms, “...And when we’re sure that he won’t immediately storm out and get caught.”

“Now what though?” Hunk frowned, gaze flickering between the two, “We just pretend that we haven’t found anything until we find more information?”

“Exactly.” Shiro nodded, “I know it doesn’t seem fair, but if that really is Lance than it’s even more important to make sure that Keith isn’t caught. One of them being captured is bad enough.”

“On the off chance it _is_  Lance then what do we do?” Pidge wondered, frowning at the idea.

“First we’ll confirm if it _is_  him.” Shiro insisted, looking at the girl, “And if it is then...I don’t know what we can do. Are the rebels able to operate rescue missions?”

“If we were that big and organized we’d have exposed the government by now.” Pidge frowned, “We just don’t have the manpower or support to pull something like that off.”

“Then let’s hope that’s not Lance.” Shiro sighed, rubbing at the bags underneath his eyes, “How can we gain more support just in case it is though?”

Pidge frowned, remaining silent.

Shiro closed his eyes, the weariness eating at him, knowing full well what that silence meant, “You were depending on your father’s evidence, weren’t you?”

“I can’t do that.” Pidge deflated, shoulders slumping beneath the weight of her decision, “I still have nightmares about them. I can’t even touch them.”

“Then I’ll say it again.” Shiro reached out and touched her shoulder, “Let’s hope it’s not Lance.”

Pidge seemed to deflate even more, a smidgen of guilt working their way through her features. She was too young to deal with this, Shiro decides, so he pulls her into what he hopes is a reassuring hug. She tenses for a moment, frozen, but melts into it soon enough. The older man smiles, because she’s just like Keith when he gets surprise hugs, and he can’t help but pat her head when he reassures her, “It’s okay. We’ll find Lance, and then will figure something out. It’ll all work out.”

 

* * *

 

“Why am I a woman again?” Lance found himself asking for the second time, unamused as Romelle worked her way around him, adjusting his dress and a blonde wig that she donned on his head. It was ridiculous, and he found himself hating the feeling of air passing through his dress even more.

“It’s your inner calling.” Romelle teased, holding in a chuckle, “Besides, I bet Keith will like it.”

“He’ll hate it.” Lance whined, “He’d appreciate seeing me as I am rather than dressed up as a woman.”

“But we can’t do that. You know why.” The blonde girl fought back, amused that Lance had no way to go around this, powerless to do anything about it but complain. This was hilarious and she loved every second of it, “He’ll have to make do seeing you like this.”

“I hate this.” The brunette complained, blowing the blonde bangs of hair away from his face.

“Look on the bright side. At least you don’t have to wear makeup _and_  Keith will finally be able to see you. Not, you, _you_ , but he’ll know that you’re okay and safe.” Romelle mused, fixing the wig for him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I just wish that I could see him too. All I want is a sign that he’s okay and that he’s not hurt. What if he’s already captured? What if we’re doing this for nothing? If anything, we’ll raise suspicion from the government.” He’ll make a fool of himself in front of all the District Six citizens but it’d be nice to know if it’ll have any merits. He’d like to think that Keith will see it, that he’ll be watching. If he’s out there, then he’s bound to be watching the news.

“He’ll see it, I’m sure of it.” Romelle smiled at him, a smile that was so very different from her usual teasing ones, “And when he does, he’ll be over the moon. We’re doing the right thing.”

“That’s if he sees it _and_  if he still remembers me.” They would always be Lance _and_  Keith but twelve years is a long time, especially when you’re a kid and growing into adulthood. “What if he forgot most of our codes? Would he remember something like that?”

“You remember them.” Romelle pointed out, “I’m sure Keith would as well.” She leaned closer, lightly hitting his forehead with a finger, “And there’s no way he would forget about you. If he could give you a sign, then I’m sure he would. We’ll have to be patient, maybe he’ll try to contact us after this broadcasting.”

Lance’s face slowly lit up, finding himself staring at Romelle in surprise, “You think he would?”

“Definitely! He’ll want to let you know that he’s safe and sound as well, which I know he is. If he’s as powerful and smart as you, then he’s definitely out there somewhere, safe and comfy. Now let’s finish you up so that you can make a fool out of yourself on television.”

Lance’s lips curved in a smile, “So you think I’m smart?”

“Smart in a sense that you’re a clever dork. Now shut up and let me finish. You should focus on remembering all those signs you and Keith exchanged as kids.” The blonde girl smiled as well, working on the finishing touches of Lance’s appearance.

“Thanks Romelle.” Lance thanked, smiling to himself as he remained still, letting the girl finish working on his appearance. Romelle was right, Keith wouldn’t let himself be caught, he’s tougher than that. And the thought that Keith would try contacting them after was all the motivation Lance needed to do this.

Keith would try and contact him, Lance knew he would. If Keith is watching, then he’d recognise the signs, or at least Lance hoped he would. He finally had a chance to reach out to Keith, a way that was safe and direct. Keith may not recognise him by his appearance, but he’ll _know_ , Lance was sure of it.

“All done!” Romelle clapped her hands, admiring her work, “It’s a shame that you’ll be wearing a mask. I was hoping I would be able to do your makeup as well.” The girl complained while Lance rolled his eyes.

“Thank the ancients for that.” He stood up, looking into the mirror at himself. He wasn’t going to say it out loud but the blonde hair looked nice on him. He wondered if he ever decided to dye his hair if it would look like this. The wig went up to his shoulders, but he tried to imagine how it would look like if it was his hair. It would look good, anything would look good on him. “Keith won’t be able to recognise me like this.” And that was the one part he hated most about his appearance.

“Perfect. That’s the whole point of this outfit. We don’t want anyone to recognise you.” Romelle mused when the door suddenly opened, revealing Allura on the other side.

“Lance are you ready? We’ll begin broadcasting in about ten minutes.” She made her way inside the prep room, eyeing the other, “Good work Romelle. Nobody will recognise him like this.”

“Thanks Allura.” The girl smiled, “But it’s a shame he’s not wearing any makeup.”

“Real shame.” Lance turned to them, “The outfit is nice and all but what about my face? Do you have the mask?”

“I do.” Allura showed the mask she was holding in her hands, “This is a highly advanced technological mask. It adjusts to its wearers face and changes appearance according to the setting we input. It creates a convincing screen in front of your face, mirroring your expressions as if it was your real face. If you move your eyebrows, the mask moves its eyebrows as well, if you wink, the mask will wink.”

“I think you showed me the mask before.” Lance tried to remember when, “I think it was when we went out to cinema.”

“Yes.” Allura nodded, “The mask is perfect for hiding one’s face. It is extremely expensive which means that only a few people can get their hands on it. We don’t have much time so why don’t we put it on now?”

“Okay.” Lance sat himself back down, closing his eyes as Allura placed the mask onto his face. The flexible material easily covered all of his face with a white screen. Allura worked on switching it on, choosing the desired settings before the mask would be switched on.

Once done, Allura and Romelle watched as a new face suddenly appeared. The face had tanned skin just like Lance’s natural tone. Blonde eyebrows and long eyelashes with a tint of blush on the cheeks. It was the face of a woman, and as Lance opened his eyes again, Allura and Romelle watched in awe. Lance was no longer the Lance they knew, a woman appearing in his place.

“This is perfect! Oh my god!” Romelle squealed excitedly, looking him over, “You’re not Lance anymore!”

The brunette turned to face the mirror, and as soon as he spotted himself he jumped up from his seat, “Oh my god!”

Allura chuckled, eyeing him approvingly, “The only thing that will give you away now is your voice. Luckily you’ll be playing the part of a mute girl who had her home damaged by the blast. I’ll have you as a guest, and you’ll then have room to convey all the messages you’d like to convey to Keith. Unfortunately mute individuals will see right through you, but that’s okay, since you’ll seem to be a bit…”

“Crazy.” Lance finished for her, “Basically a woman who invented her own way of talking and is too shocked about what happened to function right.”

“Exactly.” Allura agreed, “Now that you know the plan, we’ll have to get ready.” She took his hand, leading him out of the room where Hira had already set up everything, “Are we ready Hira?”

“Yes Mrs. Alteanis.” The head guard, Hira, confirmed, “We’ll be ready to broadcast in five minutes.”

“Perfect. Get into position everyone.” Allura turned to the rest of her staff, “We have an important address to make.”

 

* * *

 

“Is it this drawer?” Keith found himself kneeling down in the kitchen next to a drawer that Bae Bae leaned his paw against, pawing on it to get the message across that this really was the drawer he wanted opened. Keith opened the thing, finding what looked to be dog treats inside. “Is this what you want?”

Bae Bae made a content noise, and Keith took it as a yes. He reached into the thing, taking one pack of dog treats before giving it to the dog. He didn’t know how much he was suppose to give but he thought that a handful was a good enough of an amount. If he got up to get himself something to eat, he wouldn’t want only one piece.

Bae Bae seemed happy enough so Keith saw it as a decision well made. “Keith? Where are you? The Allura address is about to begin.” He heard Pidge call out from the living room, placing the treats back inside before making his way out the kitchen.

“I’m here.” He said coming in, seating himself back into his spot. Shiro was sitting next to him, then Hunk and Pidge next to him. Matt sat himself on another couch, sipping on his drink contently as they waited. Luxia Queen was shown on screen, informing everyone that Allura will be addressing the District Six citizens and that while she did that, they’ll be broadcasting regular news for the rest of the city.

Then the image of Luxia slowly disappeared, overtaken by the District Six logo along with a white background behind. This image faded as well, eventually showing Allura sitting on a chair and facing the camera. She was dressed formally, hair in a bun and wearing a white suit.

“Greetings citizens of District Six. I hope you are all doing well despite the terrible incident that occurred yesterday.” Keith watched her as she spoke, letting the image of her sink in. He’d heard about Allura before but he was never privy enough to look deeper into it. She wasn’t the manager of his District so there was never a reason for him to look deeper into her. Now though it was a different story. Depending on what Allura has to say, they might very well go into hiding in case she decides to search all of the houses within the District. She has the power to do that if she wanted to, but Pidge assured him that Allura wouldn’t do anything like that.

“I’m interrupting the regular broadcast today to make a couple of announcements and inform you of the current situation at hand.” Allura began to talk about the damages and how her and her team are working on repairing everything. She also mentioned that all the hospital bills would be paid for by the District management and that any criminals that were captured within the black market will face a jail sentence.

She went along to mention Sven, and how he will be kept in government custody until proven innocent. However, since the man admitted to being guilty, it was more likely that he would face a sentence of ten years or more in jail. Keith knew that the government didn’t buy his lies, but they’ll keep him imprisoned either way to appeal to the public.

“The attack on District Six won’t be overlooked and we will do everything in our power to restore order within the District. I assure you, I will do everything in my power to prevent a disaster like this in the future. My main concern is the safety of my citizens, and I’d like for your voices to be heard. Even if one is physically without a voice, I still go to great lengths to hear your thoughts and grief.” Suddenly a girl appeared, seating herself beside Allura and looking into the camera nervously. The nervousness could be seen on her face, glancing over at Allura who smiled at her, placing her hand over the other girl’s.

“This young lady contacted me right after the incident because her home was destroyed by the blast. She is mute but she asked me if she could join me in my address in order to attempt at contacting her brother who left her due to personal circumstances. She is here to tell him that she is safe and alive.” Allura turned to the girl and nodded.

The girl with blonde hair nodded nervously, raising up her hands and beginning to talk using what looked like to be sign language. Keith, Pidge, Shiro, Matt and Hunk watched, unresponsive at first but then as the girl continued showing all these strange signs and… a couple silly things, they all looked at each other in confusion.

“That’s not sign language.” Pidge frowned, “What is she doing?”

“It’s not any sort of military code either.” Shiro hummed beside her, relaxed into the couch, his arms resting over the back, as they had been ever since the news about Sven. He shrugged, face apathetic, “It’s probably some code we haven’t learned.”

Keith, who had very much learned a few signs of ASL since his release from the lab, frowned, “It looks like some sort of adjusted code.”

“Her shoulders are broad as fuck.” Matt marveled, quite inappropriately considering, “I bet she has some great back muscles.”

Pidge and Keith shared a look, wrinkling their noses in disgust. It was Pidge who took action and slapped his shoulder, “Matt! She’s looking for her missing brother, don’t ogle her!”

“I like muscled girls.” Matt rubbed his shoulder, having the decency to look a bit ashamed, “It’s not like I’m planning to go out, find her, and flirt.”

“I feel ya buddy.” Hunk laughed contently.

Keith decided to ignore them and focus on the signs, trying to figure out what she was trying to code. He frowned, staring at the hands, committing the codes to memory. Something about them seemed familiar. Was it a code he’d seen before? There were all kinds out there, but what did this one mean?

There were mostly just small hand signs, subtle and tiny, without too many moving arms. Meant to be hidden probably. Some kind of spy code? No, no self respecting spy would code something on a live stream would they? Keith studied the girl. She was muscular, with shoulder length blonde hair and tanned skin, with a round face puffing beneath the blonde bangs. She wore a white dress, no jewelry except…

“The locket!” Keith jumped up, his hand going towards his own, pulling the metal from beneath his shirt and holding it up, comparing it to the one on screen. They weren’t the same, not at all, but they were both clearly lockets meant to hold music, he was sure of it.

The little moon design of his contrasted the sun design of her own, and he was _sure_  that was Lance’s locket, and he said exactly that, “That’s Lance’s locket!”

“What?” Shiro leaned forward a bit, frowning lightly, “Are you sure?”

“I’d know that locket anywhere!” Keith nodded firmly, clutching his own locket with shaky hands, “Lance would  _never_  take it off.”

“Then how did she get it?” Hunk frowned, “It could just be a coincidence Keith.”

Keith shook his head, studying the hands a lot more thoroughly now, eyes set on those hands, moving in those signs, those familiar signs, “ _Shit_ , those are the lockup signs.”

“Lockup signs?” Shiro raised an eyebrow, disturbed, “What the _hell_  Keith?”

“Lance and I signed them when we were stuck in the decontamination rooms.” Keith shrugged, eyes on the hands, “I’d honestly forgotten about them. But Lance clearly didn’t, that _has_  to be him.”

Then he paused, horrified, as a sick feeling flooded through him, “Why is he wearing a dress?”

“But she doesn’t even look like Lance.” Hunk’s eyebrows knitted together, “She just looks like a muscled girl.”

“A flat chested, masculine, broad shouldered girl with Lance’s locket and suspicious knowledge about personal things that even Keith forgot about.” Pidge pointed out.

“Why did they put him in a dress?” Keith paled, throat going dry, “Why would they put him in a _dress?”_

“What’s wrong with dresses dear?” Colleen frowned from her spot on a nearby chair, her face set in a soft frown, “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah Keith, I didn’t take you for an intolerant.” Matt poked, frowning softly, “It’s not cool man.”

“Guys,  _their faces aren’t even the same_ , there’s no way that’s Lance.” Hunk tried to intervene.

“What’s wrong is that Lance and I spent the first six years of our lives _in hospital gowns_.” Keith shivered, moving to cross his arms and fight off the goosebumps, an itch returning that he thought was long scratched, “Why would they _do_  that?”

“Keith, calm down.” Shiro reached over, his hand on the younger brother’s shoulder, “He looks like he’s alright.”

But whether or not Lance was alright didn’t seem to matter, because now _Keith_  wasn’t. He was pale, his skin pricking with goosebumps, eyes blown wide and pupils dilated. Shiro frowned, face twisted in worry as he reached out to pull his brother closer, “Keith, you’ve worn dresses before and it never bothered you.”

“That’s different.” Keith shook his head, “It wasn’t _Lance.”_

“Keith, calm down.” Pidge frowned, waving towards the screen, “It’s just a dress, an ugly one at that.”

“It’s probably not even him!” Hunk cried, waving his arms, “The face is all wrong!”

“It could be expensive makeup. They do that.” Matt shrugged, frowning as he turned to Keith, “But, yeah, it’s just an ugly dress Keith, no need to get mad over it.”

“He’s in a hospital gown.” Keith’s voice cracked, his body shaking now with uncontrollable tremors, his hair sticking to his forehead, fingers digging too hard in his arm, “ _Oh god_  he’s in a hospital gown.”

“Keith.” Shiro was up in a flash, catching his brother’s shoulders and forcing him to turn around, grip firm and face set in a strong frown, “Keith, Keith I need you to calm down.”

The younger boy wasn’t calming down though. His pupils had dilated and he was shaking terribly, his teeth chattered with the force of his tremors. Every part of him was pale, his arms weak around his chest. Shiro recognized this, he recognized this very well.

“Keith, Keith, I need you to breathe.” Shiro commanded, his grip still firm to keep the boy from falling over, “Breathe with me. Remember the exercises mom taught us? In and out.”

Shiro followed his own advice, breathing in deeply, holding a bit, then out. Encouraging his brother to do the same. Keith caught on after a few moments, falling into the pattern the older brother set, trying to follow the calming exercises. It took a bit of sputtering, but eventually he at least stopped shaking.

The rest of the group had long fallen silent around them, and Lance or the girl or whoever had long stopped signing, leaving the stream and giving attention back to Allura, who was speaking again about contacting her. But in the Holt household all eyes were on Keith, whose knees were shaking and whose skin was deadly pale.

Shiro sat his brother down on the couch, fussing over him until he the shaking stopped. At some point the breathing exercises stopped, and Keith’s pupils stopped dilating so much. The older brother stayed kneeled in front of the other though, his hands still gripping the other’s shoulders, “You okay buddy.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith nodded, wiping his eyes. He shook his head, face flushing with shame, “I’m sorry, I overreacted.”

“Dude.” Hunk breathed, “Don’t apologise, I’m pretty sure you just had a panic attack! Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need some juice?”

“I didn’t get all of what Lance said.” Keith shook his head, ignoring Hunk’s question and his own problem. He turned towards Pidge, face weak and eyes tired, “Is there a way to maybe send him an anonymous message? Let him know I’m okay? It doesn’t have to say anything...I just…”

His hand went towards his locket, fiddling with it until he worked the door open, letting soft music twinkle into his ears softly, “Is there a way to maybe send him this tune? So he knows I’m fine?”

“We could try and send an email.” Pidge leaned her hand against her chin, “Allura said at the end that if citizens have any questions, we should contact her. Perhaps there’s a double meaning behind that.”

“But we’ll have to send it while hiding the serial number and the ID number. We’ll have to create a fake email address if we want a reply back.” Hunk noted, “I don’t know guys… Is it worth the risk? What if it’s bait to lure us out?”

Keith furrowed his brows, focusing on listening to the melodious tune of his locket. He closed his eyes, letting the soft music calm him, “I’m sure that was Lance. He’d never take off that locket. It’s _definitely_  him.” Keith sat up weakly with Shiro’s support, looking up at Pidge, “Could we send that email?”

Pidge saw the desperation in Keith’s eyes and she didn’t have it in her to deny him that. They could do this, but as Hunk said, they’d need to hide their ID or anything that would reveal who they are, “We’ll send it.” Pidge reached out for her main holoscreen, working her magic and creating a new email.

“Let me make sure nobody would be able to trace us. Then we’ll record the tune and send it.” She began to type, Hunk and Shiro sparing a look at one another in uncertainty. They both thought of the image they saw just before Allura’s appearance, making them confused as to what to believe in.

“Would you like some water Keith?” Colleen asked worriedly, “I’ll bring you a glass.”

“Thank you Colleen.” Shiro thanked her, watching over Keith as the rest of the rebels worked on the email.

“If that was Lance, it would explain the girl’s broad shoulders.” Matt noted, humming in thought, “I never would have thought that was a guy.”

“It might not be Lance.” And Hunk felt the need to remind everyone once again.

“Of course it’s not Hunk, he can’t just appear on TV like that. He’s wanted, remember?” Pidge frowned, done setting up the email and making sure that nobody would be able to trace it back to them. Although they will be able to receive a response back, “He can’t show himself on TV like that. It’s a 50/50 chance and I’ll believe Keith on this. He knows Lance more than any of us here. Besides, the girl even knew about the lockup signs.”

“I don’t know…” But Hunk, ever the careful one of the group worried, “I’m just being careful here.”

“We know you are buddy.” Matt leaned against the boy, arm around Hunk’s shoulder, “Sit tight, we won’t be falling for anyone’s tricks. If we get a response back with credible evidence, then we’ll know for sure if it’s Lance or not.”

And they’ll know if the Lance in that picture was the real one or not. Pidge now had a strong feeling that it wasn’t, giving her another cause to worry. But they’ll have to talk about that later, now she had to focus on sending the email. “Alright, let’s record the tune. Everyone be quiet.”

She pressed the record button as everyone remained silent, letting the melodious tune play for a little while before Pidge ended her recording. “Done.” She didn’t type anything into the “subject” leaving the email completely empty except for the single recording. She hit the send button, sending it to the email Allura provided on her TV address. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

Keith held the locket in his hand close to his chest, hoping from the bottom of his soul that they’d get an hopeful answer. This _had_  to be Lance, it couldn’t be anyone else. The email will be proof of that, and he found himself anxiously waiting for a reply from Lance.

“Did you record everything?” Keith asked while Pidge nodded.

“Of course. Matt was in charge of that.” She looked at her brother, “Transfer the file onto my laptop.”

“Got it.” Matt walked up to the holoscreen on which they’ve watched Allura and Lance, moving the data up in the air, selecting the one he was looking for before sending it to Pidge’s holoscreen. The girl opened it but didn’t play it just yet, “And you’re sure you can handle it?”

“I’ll be fine.” Keith assured, “There should be a lot of things I missed in there. I forgot most of the signs but maybe there are some things I might remember.”

“I don’t know Keith, you might have another panic attack.” Shiro cautiously warned, “I think we should wait it out a bit until you’re feeling better.”

“I’m fine.” Keith tried to reassure, placing his hands on Shiro’s arm, “I was just overreacting, like a baby, it won’t happen again.”

“You don’t overreact panic attacks Keith.” Shiro frowned, “That’s why they’re called panic attacks. Because they’re the result of _panic_. Panic that comes from traumatic events.”

Colleen was back with a cup of water, strolling over to hold the glass to Shiro. He nodded in thanks, gently taking it with his robotic hand and moving it towards his brother. Keith wordlessly accepted, taking the water and tilting back the glass, gulping it down greedily. He finished the whole thing in one go, barely even stopping between gulps, which was a clear sign to the older brother that everything was _not_  fine.

“I’m not comfortable with you watching this.” Shiro admitted as he moved the glass away, eyes pleading towards his brother, “Please reconsider.”

“I’m ready this time.” Keith assured once again, his face as earnest as Shiro had ever seen it, “It’ll be...fine...I’ll look away if it gets too much. But we need to decode the message.”

Keith turned to Matt now, placing the empty glass on the table. Matt, whose face was also twisted with concern, immediately pushed the glass well out of reach just in case there _was_  another attack. Then Matt turned to Pidge and they both nodded, the younger sibling turning towards her laptop and pulling up the recording.

Pidge skimmed through most of Allura’s speech and got right to the signing, settling on it. Keith flinched a bit, but focused his violet eyes on the hands.

He watched Lance’s hands carefully as he leaned his hand against the chest, rubbing circles around it with a small smile on his face. Keith paused the video at that, trying to remember what that gesture meant. It was hard, considering he’d forgotten about their lockup signs altogether.

He took in a deep breath, exploring the deepest part of his mind and trying to remember what that could have meant. Shiro noticed, gently placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder, “Take it easy. We have all the time you need.”

“Thanks Shiro.” Keith smiled at his brother, unsure, but he could make a few guesses, “I think he’s trying to say that he’s okay.” He remembers the rubbing motion as a sign that everything will be okay, and the few times they were rubbing each other to help heal the wounds. As if that would somehow help, rubbing and blowing on the scars. Children are always so innocent.

It was only a guess but it already sent a wave of relief washing over him. “Play it.” He told Pidge who resumed the clip. The next gesture Lance did was point to his eyes and then pointed towards the screen. It was easier to guess, and Keith made it out to be ‘I’m looking for you’ which Lance had apparently told Hunk before.

Keith didn’t tell Pidge to stop the video and let it play, moving onto another gesture. Lance raised his hands up, but not in a way that it would be noticed by the guards that were watching at the time. Keith raised a brow as he watched, unsure what that meant. He watched as Lance spread his hand up, holding it up like that for a second before moving onto another gesture. “Pause it.”

Pidge did, everyone tilting their heads to look at Keith. “I can’t remember what that means.” He frowned, biting at his nail and trying to remember. He felt Shiro squeeze his arm assuringly, “That’s okay. What’s important is that we get most of the messages. We’re allowed to miss a few.”

“Okay.” Keith nodded, turning back to the screen that resumed playing. The next gesture was done with one hand only, moving his hand to form a strange shape. Pidge paused it there, Lance frozen in that pose.

“That looks like half of a heart.” Matt noted, making a heart with his own hands, “Like this, but only one half.”

“You’re right.” Pidge looked at it and she could see it, “It’s just one half of it though.”

Keith’s breath hitched at that, looking at Lance’s hand. He pressed the play button, watching as he pointed the end of his heart towards the screen before pausing it. Keith made the other half with his own hand, leaning it against the screen to form a full heart. He bit his bottom lip, unable to hold in the tears that began falling down his cheeks.

He remembers this clearly, and he feels so incredibly dumb for forgetting something like this. How could he forget something so important? When separated by a glass wall, Lance and he would form a heart through the glass, one half on Lance’s side and the other on Keith’s own, both of their hands forming one heart.

It was a show of love and a way to show that they wanted to be together again, in their bed and hidden under the blankets together. They would miss each other’s warmth every time they were isolated like that, so close to each other but unable to touch.

His current predicament reminded Keith of that time, as if Lance was behind a glass right now. So close but at the same time so far away. The heart was still there though, which meant that Lance misses him and wants to be together again. Keith couldn’t hold in the tears, letting them fall freely down his face.

“Keith?” Shiro’s hand was on his shoulder again, pulling him away from the screen and into a hug, rubbing circles into his back, like he did when he first started hugging Keith, “Are you alright buddy?”

Keith just buried his face in his brother’s shoulder, letting that warmth swallow him instead. It wasn’t the same as Lance, who was warm in a way that was on level with him, comforting in that he knew that he and Lance were together forever, right up until they weren’t. But this was a good warm. It was like a giant wrapping him in their arms, a protective wall of soft skin and hard muscle that protected him in a different way than Lance’s warmth had. And unlike the cool glass wall that kept his friend away he knew Shiro would do anything to bring them together if he could.

All he could do was sniff, trying to hide his shame behind him brother’s shoulder. He couldn’t believe he’d broken down, twice, in front of these... these... acquaintances? Work buddies? He didn’t even know what they  _were_  at this point and here he was showing vulnerability he simply wasn’t comfortable with. So he tries to sink in Shiro’s arms, trying to hide behind the mass.

“Why don’t we get you back to our room buddy?” He felt Shiro lift him up, like he didn’t weight anything at all, one hand still rubbing his back, “I think you’ve been through enough for today.”

“We’ll tell you if we get anything back.” Keith heard Matt promise.

“Just tell me if you two need anything.” Colleen’s voice spoke up, “Anything at all.”

“Thanks guys.” Shiro spoke and began walking towards the stairs. Keith could feel it when he began ascending upwards, his body jostling in Shiro’s arms as the older man kept his careful hold. The flesh hand was still rubbing careful circles in his back, massaging at the painful surgical scars along his lower back. “It’s okay buddy, I’ve got you. Just like when you were little, remember?”

“I miss Lance.” Keith admits, his voice only slightly muffled.

“I know Keith.” Shiro sighs, “We’ll find him soon.”

“I miss Aki too.” Keith turns his face upwards, “And Uncle Sam, and Adam, and the nurses, and Dr. Slav.”

“We all do buddy.” Shiro soothes back his hair now, “It’ll work out. We’ll all go visit mom and Uncle Sam’s graves together after this, let them know we’re okay. Especially mom, she’d wanna know her boys are okay.”

Her boys. That included him Keith’s dizzy mind thinks tiredly. Him and Shiro, because she died before she could meet Adam. It was just him and Shiro now…

And Sven.

“Shiro…” Keith pulls his face back again, trying to catch a glimpse of his brother’s face, “This probably isn’t the best time to say it...but...we have to take Sven too.”

Shiro paused just as he was about to reach for their bedroom door, taking a moment to absorb the words, “The doppelgänger from the news? Why?”

“Pidge looked him up.” Keith admitted, his grip on the older man tightening, “He’s your older brother. Half brother. Different fathers. She thought I should tell you.”

Shiro was quiet for a long moment, his hand still frozen on the doorknob. Keith, face pressed close against his brother’s body, felt it when his heartbeat sped up, “...Shiro?”

“We’ll see if he wants to go.” Shiro reassured quietly, opening the door to the room and walking right up to the bed. He didn’t drop Keith though, choosing instead to let them both fall onto the mattress bellow and bury themselves within the nest of blankets and pillows.’

“Are you okay Shiro?” Keith asked from beneath his brother’s arms.

“I’m more worried about you Keith.” Shiro replied, freeing an arm to pull a blanket over them, “And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired, let’s take a nap.”

“Okay.” Keith nodded, letting the warmth consume him.

 

* * *

 

“I did it. I just made myself look like a fool in front of millions of people.” Lance took off his wig, throwing it down on the ground. He switched off the mask next, gently placing it on a desk, wanting to smash it in pieces but unable to because he knew just how expensive the damn thing was.

“But it was for a good cause.” Romelle hopped over to him, trying to reassure him that everything would be alright, “If it works out, then Keith will try to reach us.”

Lance sighed tiredly, visibly exhausted and tired, “What if he didn’t see it? God… What if he _can’t_  see it?”

“I’m sure he did. Let’s sit down over there.” Romelle led him to the couches nearby, the crew slowly beginning to pack their equipment now that the broadcast was over. Allura stood up from her seat, stretching her arms before walking over to Romelle and Lance.

“I think it was a success.” Allura noted, seating herself down next to them, “I’m sure Keith would have seen it Lance. Now we just have to wait for him to contact us.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” The brunette mumbled, turning to her, “That was a good address Allura. I’m sure it’ll calm the people.”

The white haired woman smiled at that, “I hope it does. The last thing I want is for my citizens to live in fear of what’ll come tomorrow or the day after. Security and safety is my number one concern, and as such I hold it in high regard.”

“I’m sure the citizens feel safe.” Romelle noted, “You’re the best District Manager they could have hoped for Allura.”

“Thank you Romelle. I appreciate it.” Allura’s smile widened, content that the broadcast went the way it was suppose to. They sent out the message, and now all they could do was wait. The waiting game was the hard part and always leaves everyone on edge. She hopes that they do get a response, to at least confirm that Keith is well and alive.

“We’re slowly getting emails.” They all looked up to Coran who appeared and sat on the opposite couch of them, looking at his holoscreen, “Nothing that stands out just yet but I’ll let you know as soon as I spot something.”

“Is that okay? I mean, will Keith be able to contact us?” Romelle asked hesitantly, “If he’s hiding, then he wouldn’t want anyone to find where he is.”

“There are ways to conceal one’s email address.” Allura commented, “But it is a good point. It would be a risk that Keith would have to take. Hopefully we’ve given him enough evidence to trust us and write to us.”

“What if he doesn’t recognise the signs? Oh god… I hope he remembers.” Lance ran his hand through his hair, praying to any god out there that Keith saw everything and that he’ll give him a sign, _anything_  just to let him know that he’s safe.

“Aha! This one seems suspicious!” Coran caught everyone’s attention, eyes flying towards him.

“What is it Coran?” Allura was the one to ask as Coran flipped the holoscreen towards them.

“This email is empty. It has no subject or any text within it. The only thing it contains is a sound recording. It doesn’t have a name either. I’ll try playing it.” The older man pressed the play button, eagerly listening to what it might contain.

A melodious tune sounded, filling the room with sweet melody. Lance listened closely, chest tightening in response to the music because he feels that he’d heard it somewhere before. As he listened, he tried to remember, and then it hit him.

His eyes widened in shock, hand flying to his locket as the melody played, raising it up to look at. “Keith saw my locket.” Lance muttered, “He saw it and recognised me. That’s the music from his necklace. He only played it that day before we were separated, but I always remembered the tune.”

He traced his finger along his own necklace, feeling the pattern of the sun that was there, “Keith knew it was me. He got the messages.” Lance’s eyes began to tear, unable to hold himself from crying. He hid his face within his hands, so incredibly happy that he couldn’t control the tears at all.

“I told you he would.” Romelle moved to embrace him gently, smiling happily with the notion that Keith replied, “I’m really glad.”

Allura leaned in as well, joining them in a big group hug, “He’s out there Lance. You told me once that nobody within the facility knows about your lockets. Something like this couldn’t be faked.”

Lance sniffed, letting the tears fall down his face as he moved his hands to embrace the two, “Y-Yeah.” He muttered, breaking down right then and there. He was too emotional to notice Coran who joined them at some point as well, crying hysterically while hugging the three of them tightly.

They were all a mess but at some point Allura spoke up, “Coran, will you be able to send a reply?”

“I-I think I will!” The older man detached, sniffing while working his holoscreen, “W-What should we send?”

Lance looked up, face read and his face watery. There was only one thing they could send back, and he knew what it was right away. He raised up his locket, letting the melody play. “Send a recording of this. Keith will recognise it.”

“Alright.” Coran pressed the play button to record, leaving enough time so that the music could be recognised. Lance sniffed, uncaring if the recording caught it. He bit his lip, hesitating whether or not he should say anything. He didn’t want it to be too revealing in case this is a trap, but he was so relieved that he didn’t care at this point.

“I miss you.” He spoke, Allura and Romelle turning to him, “I-” He wanted to say more, but Allura stopped him before he could, careful in case it was fake.

Lance exchanged a look with her, understanding of her intentions. They let the music box play for a while longer before stopping the recording and sending a response.

“I think we may have found him.” Romelle smiled.

“We may have indeed.” Allura agreed, “We’ll have to wait and see what kind of a reply they’ll send next.”

Lance found himself anxious, itching in place and hoping that a response would come soon.

 

* * *

 

“Guys! We got a reply!” Pidge yelled out, grabbing Matt and Hunk’s attention.

“No way! Already!?” Her older brother threw himself behind her as she opened the email, Hunk anxiously beside them as they waited for the file to open. The email was empty, aside from a single sound file. “Play it quick!”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Pidge grumbled, pressing the play button. They all listened carefully, hearing the sound of another music box. It wasn’t the same tune, meaning that it was a different music box from Keith’s own. Then they heard a male voice, shocked and surprised when they heard it.

“That’s his voice!” Hunk jumped up, “That’s _him!”_

“Holy shit.” Pidge muttered. “So it’s legit?”

“Looks like it is! Yeah! We have to show this to Keith!” Matt threw his hand up in the air excitedly, both he and Hunk jumping up and down in joy.

“We’ll have to run this by Keith first but if Hunk recognises his voice then it’s a match!” Pidge smiled happily, “This proves that he’s with Allura! Or at least in close contact with her! Which means that the picture we saw was fake!”

“I knew it was.” Hunk frowned, “It didn’t make any sense.”

“What picture?” Matt felt like the odd one out, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

“Oh… We’ve found a picture that shows Lance being kidnapped. We can’t be sure it’s him in the picture though so we decided to look into it later.” Hunk explained while Pidge worked on pulling up the picture.

“Here it is.” She showed her brother whose face turned from that of happiness into horror and shock.

“What the?”

“I know.” Pidge narrowed her eyes at the thing, “It looks real but I think this broadcast just proved that it’s not. But even if it’s fake, it spells bad news for us.” She looked up at her sibling, “I found this in the rebel database.”

Matt took a minute to register what Pidge was trying to say, “So you’re saying that the government has access to our networks, or at least the more accessible ones.”

“Not the one that is hidden behind the black web, but the channels that are easier to access.” Pidge hissed, “This means that not all information that’s there is true. Most of it could be corrupted.”

“Shit.” Matt uttered.

“Exactly.” Pidge sighed, “It’s only a matter of time before the government finds us. We may need to go to one of our bases and take refuge there. I don’t want to put mum in any danger.”

“It would be better if Keith could stay here.” Colleen noted, but she understood the circumstances of the situation, “But if you need to, then I’d be willing to go with you.”

“What!? No, you can’t do that. It would be too-” Pidge stopped when Hunk’s bracelet suddenly began to vibrate, signifying an incoming phone call. The bulkier rebel raised the bracelet up to his face, spotting Shay’s ID.

“It’s Shay. I have to take it.” He hurried over to the kitchen so that he didn’t disturb the Holts in their talk. But as he looked at the bracelet, he noticed that he had about ten missed calls from Shay. He’d forgotten that he put his bracelet on silent before and forgot to switch it off again.

He answered the call, “Shay I’m so-” He froze when instead of Shay, Rolo’s image appeared. The rebel was grinning widely, arms folded smugly.

“Hey Hunk, I’ll make this short. We got your girl and we’re willing to trade her for Keith Kogane. We know that you know where he is, so this should be pretty simple. You have to-”

“Where is she.” Hunk hissed hatefully, clenching his hand and hitting the counter, “Show her to me.”

“As you wish.” Rolo walked over, the holographic image showing him and then Shay as he got to her. The girl had her mouth taped, crying as she looked up at Hunk. Rolo’s smirk widened, eyes returning to Hunk, “If you want to see her again then come at these coordinates with Keith Kogane. We’ll have a trade-off. And don’t even think about trying anything funny. If you try to trick us, she’ll pay for it. Later!” The phone call ended, leaving a frozen Hunk standing in place.

Hunk couldn’t find it in himself to move an inch, blood running cold within his veins. He felt the world crush around him as his bracelet beeped, receiving the coordinates as well as the date for the exchange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: BBell is taking a break from he hiatus to bring you this chapter. (Pretends she did any of the editing)
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: We have a big announcement to make! BBell and I have began working on our very first zine along with our friend (and beta) Silvia! We're super excited for this project and hope that you'll support us as we go. We're making a Galtean Klance zine! If you're interested, you can find more information about it here.
> 
> Galtean Klance Zine Tumblr: https://galteanklancezine.tumblr.com/  
> Galtean Klance Zine Twitter: https://twitter.com/GalteanKlanceZ  
> Galtean Klance Zine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galteanklancezine/
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	5. The Underground

_Zarkon was a lot bigger in person than he was behind glass walls._

_Subject 004 had only ever seen the man from a distance before this moment, when he was surrounded by the other children or strapped to a metal table beneath the care of the researchers. Sometimes he came when visiting Old Lady Haggar, talking to her and pressing his lips to her forehead, but he’d never seen the man up close._

_Not until now._

_“Is this them?” Zarkon’s voice was a deep rumble, a baritone that reminded him of things deep and dark, like shutdown time or the glass rooms. He was big and strong, something that he didn’t have a word for. But whatever it was Zarkon was definitely it._

_The giant man hummed, his eyes locked on the two boys, the other children had died months ago, these two were the last of the project. Subject 004 thought that the scientists were waiting for them to die too, but they didn’t. No matter what test the scientists ran their skin didn’t blow up, or their bodies didn’t fail. He thinks that might be why they’re here right now._

_“Yes...President Zarkon.” Dr. Holt nodded his head. He was the doctor in charge of them now, he used to be responsible for another child, but she had been one of the first to die. Subject 004 couldn’t really remember her very well, and he didn’t think Subject 003 remembered either, they were just babies then. He doesn’t know._

_“And you’re sure they’re successful?” Zarkon turned to stare at the team of scientists, all gathered to present the two boys._

_The team of scientist twittered nervously, and someone pushed Dr. Slav to the front. The tanned man fumbled for a bit, his fingers tightening around his clipboard nervously. The scientist gulped, holding his clipboard up, “W-We...have run multiple tests a-and have determined that the element zero nodes in their skin are fully effective. It seems that Dr. Holt was able to find the right pattern and the right chemical balance for the Subjects to safely use these nodes without causing damage.”_

_Dr. Slav was acting weird. Normally the doctor talked about numbers and percentages and realities. Right now he was speaking strict and normal, like he didn’t dare say anything that Zarkon didn’t think was important._

_“And you think they’ll live to adulthood?” Zarkon questioned, facing the scientist with a look that Subject 004 couldn’t read._

_The team of scientists all confirmed, throwing in facts and figures that he didn’t understand either. The scientists were always doing that though. He risked a glance over towards Subject 003, who must have also decided to risk a look. Dr. Holt stood between them, his hands around both of theirs, and he squeezed to remind them to pay attention. They both jerked back forward, keeping their eyes on Zarkon._

_“Leave us.” Zarkon told the rest of the scientists, waving them away. Only Old Lady Haggar remained unmoving, standing right where she was as the other scientists trickled out. Dr. Holt made to let go, but Zarkon stopped him, “Not you Dr. Holt.”_

_Dr. Holt froze, straightening his stance as Zarkon addressed him. For a moment they all just stood there, with only Old Lady Haggar left watching from the corner of the room. Zarkon watched them for a moment, his eyes rested on them before he moved forward._

_He was somehow even bigger as he walked forward. Seeming to get taller and taller with every step, until he towered over them so high that Subject 004 had to crane his neck back to stare at the man’s face. Zarkon watched for a moment, studying them, before bending down and picking him up by the armpits._

_“And which one are you?” Zarkon asked as he held the pale boy up, his eyes trained on violet orbs._

_“I’m Subject 004.” He answered softly, politely, just like he was supposed to. He didn’t always do what he was told, but he didn’t think he wanted to test that with a tall man like Zarkon._

_“Ah, the trouble maker.” Zarkon made a sound like a chuckle, “We’ll have to train that out of you, see if we can’t put that fire to better use.”_

_Then Zarkon moved, walking towards a large chair with the pale boy still in his hands. He turned, sitting down while placing Subject 004 in his lap. He turned to where Dr. Holt and Subject 003 where still standing, the doctor frozen solid as the tanned child holding his hand only tilted their head. Zarkon didn’t mind the behavior, simply patting the other side of his lap, “Come here 003.”_

_Subject 003 nodded, letting go of Dr. Holt and and walked forward timidly. His hands twisted around themselves as he moved, but when blue eyes met violet the tanned child puffed up and gained courage, walking confidently forward and placing himself on Zarkon’s knees, pulling himself up and onto the other side of the man’s lap._

_“Now.” Zarkon moved his large hands to hold them in place, they were a whole four years old, and his hands nearly covered the entire width of their backs. The way he looked at them was weird too, especially when he spoke with that deep voice, “Do you know why you’re here?”_

_“Cause we’re the last ones?” Subject 003 guessed, his hands twisting around themselves, “And because we work, right?”_

_“That’s a smart boy.” Zarkon hummed in approval, “You were obviously paying attention. That’s good, keep that quality, you’ll need it when you’re grown.”_

_Subject 003 nodded, his chest swelling with pride. It wasn’t too often that they got praise, especially not from someone important. Subject 004 wanted to smile for his friend, show how proud he was, but he didn’t want to share that in front of this large stranger. Not that it seemed to matter, because Zarkon made another humming noise, “Yes, you’re both smart boys. You’ll do fine.”_

_Subject 004 wanted to ask what they were going to do fine, but he didn’t dare. Instead he just nodded his head and tried to sneak a hand over to make sure 003 didn’t try to ask either. If Zarkon noticed, he didn’t say anything. He just shifted to let his eyes rest on them for a moment, lost in his thoughts, before speaking again, “We didn’t expect any of the first trial to survive, much less two.”_

_The pale boy tried, but he couldn’t help squirming a bit at the news. 003 bit his lip, his own distress clear. He’s doesn’t want to think about dying, and he doesn’t want to think about his friend dying. But Zarkon expected them to die, and he’s not even sure if Zarkon expects them to keep being alive. It sounds like it though, which is probably a good thing, but it’s still confusing. His friend looks confused, and sad, and 004 doesn’t like it when the tanned boy is sad._

_“Why?” The pale boy asks, more for his friend than because of curiosity, it was a risky move, but one he was willing to make for the tanned boy with the quivering lip._

_“A dangerous question.” Zarkon patted his head, his hand spreading all along the top, “Never ask it again you two.”_

_“Okay.” Both boys promised._

_“Good, you’re learning.” Zarkon hummed in approval, “But I think I’ll indulge you for now. Tell me boys, have you ever heard of the Spartans?”_

_“No.” They both choroused, shaking their heads. Neither one of them had really heard of much about what was outside the labs, not since they’d gotten rid of the nurses after the birthday party. He misses the nurses; they were nice and told them things about the outside, sometimes they gave them juice and puddings they snuck from lunch. Sometimes he wonders what happened to them._

_Zarkon hummed again, turning to face Dr. Holt, “If they’re going to live then I think we can afford giving them a proper education. As their doctor I’ll leave that task to you, Dr. Holt, under the supervision of Honerva, of course.”_

_“Yes sir.” Dr. Holt nodded, his voice was weirdly empty, not as warm as he normally tried to be._

_“But for now…” Zarkon turned back to them, patting their heads almost fondly, “The Spartans were a group of people who lived a very long time ago. In a city-state much like ours. They were part of a series of city-states that all lived under one identity as a sort of country. Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos, Delphi, Rhodes, and many others. But Sparta was the greatest of them all. Do you what to know why?”_

_Despite himself, Subject 004 found himself nodding, leaning in as he listened to the story, across from him his friend was doing the same, little hand clutching with excitement at the prospect of a story._

_“The Spartans were the strongest military power in Ancient Greece.” Zarkon brushed the boys’ hair as he said this, “When children were born they would check for imperfections, and if there was any deformity they would kill them.The children that survived this they were taken to training camps at a young age, even the girls, which was strange back then. And the children would train to become fine warriors.”_

_Zarkon wouldn’t stop patting their hair as he spoke, “The girls would return home eventually. Their jobs were to run the estates, make sure the servants and thralls were in line, take care of any young children they had. The Spartan boys never stopped training, even when they were grown and married and had families of their own. Do you want to know why?”_

_Both boys nodded, the curiosity too much for them._

_“Because a Spartan is never anything but a warrior.” Zarkon tucked a bit of inky black hair behind a pale ear, “He is never anything else. Not a potter, or a merchant. He’s a perfect soldier. Even when he finds a wife he must do live a soldier’s way. They were built for battle, and they were built for war.”_

_Zarkon paused here, considering, “But you’re probably wondering by now why I’m telling you this.”_

_Subject 004 wasn’t, somewhere along the way he’d gotten lost in the story, learning about these people who did strange things for strange reasons. Zarkon used strange words too, like “wives” and “servants”. He nodded though, because he wanted to hear more of the story._

_“Because good things come in twos, boys.” Zarkon’s hands are on their backs again, he’s leaning forward a bit now, like he’s sharing a big secret, “Sparta had two kings.”_

_“What’s a king?” 003 asks for them, his head tilted._

_“It’s what I am, in a sense.” Zarkon hums, leaning back, “The king is in charge of everyone. They make sure that everything runs the way it’s supposed to. Sparta had two kings to make sure it ran right.”_

_“Then where is the other king?” The pale boy asks, willing to risk it now that he’s seen some questions are safe, “If you’re like a king, and there’s supposed to be two, then where is the other one?”_

_Zarkon chuckles again, ruffling his hair, “Most places don’t have two kings little one.”_

_“But you said that good things were in twos!” The tanned child blinked, tilting his head again as he tried to figure out the problem._

_“I did.” Zarkon nods, “And they do.”_

_Both children shared a look, their faces scrunched up in confusion. The large man was being confusing on purpose, he had to be, because he wasn’t making any sense otherwise. They looked back towards the man, hoping that he would explain more._

_“Sparta was open about having two kings.” Zarkon told them, “But I’m more secret about it.”_

_Both children made a noise, urging him to continue._

_“My wife and I are both kings, in a way.” Zarkon told them, patting back their hair, staring down at them, “We both run this city together, and we both keep each other in line.”_

_“You see boys…” Zarkon continues, glancing at Old Lady Haggar, “The Spartans were much smarter than most gave them credit for. They knew things were stronger in pairs, when there’s a bond. They often encouraged their soldiers to find another soldier and form a bond like I have with my wife, because they believed that such a bond would give the Spartans strength and power beyond that of an average soldier, if only to protect that bond.”_

_Zarkon got a strange look in his eye again, sending goosebumps across Keith’s skin, “I don’t think the kings ever formed that bond, but imagine if they had…”_

_Zarkon stopped, shaking his head, “It doesn’t matter. Clearly, this is a sign. If you’re trained properly then perhaps I can give you to my son and the other one…”_

_“No!” Subject 004 would admit, even at this young age, that it wasn’t smart to backtalk any adult, much less this one. But the pale boy was also admittedly very stupid when it came to his need to stay with his friend. He wasn’t a child of words though, rather shy about such things, but he was better with actions. So he threw himself towards his tanned friend and buried his face in the boy’s chest. His friend wrapped his arms around him, making his own protests at the idea of separation, “Please don’t take us away!”_

_Zarkon watched all this protest with that look in his eye, and then a smile spread across his face, “Seems I won’t be doing that.’_

_He reached down and patted their heads, “Perhaps if you two are good, and your training goes well, you can be kings yourselves.”_

Zarkon’s voice slowly began to fade into darkness, echoing within the deepest parts of Keith’s mind. Even now the voice sent chills down Keith’s spine, something dangerous lingering within it that he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. He didn’t even attempt to, too confused and intimidated by the man to try.

He also had a feeling that even if he tried to, it wouldn’t be anything good, and it wouldn’t uncover the true nature of the man. Zarkon was shrouded in darkness, too dangerous to touch upon.

Keith’s eyes slowly opened, staring at the ceiling above and noting the light that was in the room. He blinked tiredly, feeling the weight of another person beside him. He tilted his head to the side to see Shiro’s sleeping face, the man peacefully resting beside him. It was strange, since Shiro was an early riser. He must have slept in today.

Keith turned his head back, looking up at the white ceiling in front of him. He reached for the locket on his chest, wanting to play it but at the same time he didn’t want to wake Shiro up. Instead he raised it up so that he could look at it, eyes focused on the moon symbol that was in front. He traced his finger along the lines, remembering the sun symbol he’d seen during Allura’s address.

That was Lance’s locket, he was sure of it. Lance was just like a sun to him, shining brightly and giving meaning to his life. Just as Lance did when they were little. If it weren’t for him, he might not even be here today. The experiments would have driven him mad, broken his will until there was nothing left.

He thought about giving in so many times because what was the point of fighting? If all he was ever meant to do was endure those experiments, being hurt every single day, then there was no need for hope. The younger him would have probably given up, it if weren’t for the promise of seeing Lance again in their cold room. The thought that they’d be able to read books, snuggle and talk about the outside world kept him going.

Lance was the sun, and the moon isn’t able to shine without the sun.

He doesn’t know if Lance would see him the same way, but as the moon, he’d like to think that he was able to give a ray of hope to Lance as well. The moon brightened up the night sky, shining light into the endless darkness. He’d like to think that he brought light into Lance’s world back then too, perhaps not in the way the sun did, but in his own unique way.

Keith slowly shifted, careful not to wake Shiro as he stood up. He stretched himself, looking out the window and at the trees that were outside. It was weird and unusual for him to wake up seeing greenery outside, but he had to admit that he liked it. If Shiro, Adam and he had a house like this, surrounded by green, it would be nice.

Taking light steps, Keith made his way to the bathroom, hopping into the shower first. He let the cold water wash over him, hugging himself at the thought of Zarkon. His younger self didn’t know any better, but now that he’s older, the memories of the man became even more frightening.

He tried to push them away, deciding to focus on Lance instead. They were a step closer to finding his childhood love, and Keith found himself anxiously thinking if they received any sort of reply by now.

The thought made him speed up his washing, rinsing his hair before switching off the shower and hopping out of the shower. He dried himself before putting the locket safely around his neck and then the rest of his clothing. He managed to dry his hair as well, putting everything back in place before peeking out the bathroom door. Shiro was still asleep, but Keith decided to give him the time to make up for lost sleep.

Tiptoeing to the door, Keith made his way outside their room, closing it quietly behind him before making his way down the corridor and then the stairs. Bae Bae came walking up to him as soon as he saw him, his tail wiggling happily. “Morning.” The pale boy greeted, kneeling down to the dog. “Did you sleep well? I had a really bad dream.” He said, as if the canine would understand him.

Bae Bae licked his hand, and Keith appreciated it. He patted the dog on the head, standing back up. “Let’s go eat.” He continued making his way to the kitchen, peeking out from around the corner to spot Hunk sitting on a chair next to the counter. The larger boy was leaning his upper body against the counter sadly, draped over it while rolling a single apple that was there with his finger.

Keith had known Hunk for only about four days so he didn’t think it was his place to try and comfort him. Pidge or Matt should do that, yeah, that would be better. But he was still hungry so he decided to venture into the kitchen in search of food.

“Morning.” He greeted, making a beeline for the cupboard where he knew he would find his favourite cereal. He took it in hand, taking out a bowl and then finding milk. Placing it on the table, he finally noticed the sorry state Hunk was in.

“Hey man.” The tanned boy greeted back, but apart from that, he didn’t do anything else.

Keith raised a brow at that, his kindness getting the better of him, “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Hunk sighed tiredly, leaning his head against his hands, “I didn’t sleep last night. Had too much on my mind.”

Keith paused worriedly after putting milk into the bowl, looking down at the other, “Did something happen?”

The other seemed hesitant to answer but nodded anyway, “Yeah. I promised Pidge we would talk about it when everyone wakes up. What time is it?”

Keith glanced at the clock, “Seven in the morning.” Huh? It was that early? Explains why Shiro was still asleep.

“Ohh…. Okay.” Hunk slumped further down, “By the way, we have good news. Lance replied back.”

“Really!?” Keith perked up at that, his full attention on Hunk, “When?”

“While you were asleep. You and Shiro went to sleep really early last night. Pidge will tell you about it when she wakes up.” But even though it was good news, Hunk didn’t seem to be relieved in any way.

Okay, something was really wrong with him, “Do you want to talk about what happened? I can listen.” Keith sat down on a chair, abandoning his plan of going out to eat in the living room.

“Thanks man. I just… I don’t know if I should tell you now.” Hunk looked at him, “We’ll talk about it when everyone gets here.”

“Is it serious?” The possibilities of what it could be made Keith anxious, “If it’s serious then I need to know. Is it Lance?”

“No, no, don’t worry, it’s nothing like that.” Hunk waved his hands up in the air, showing signs of life for the first time since Keith entered the kitchen, “It’s not Lance.”

“Then what is it?” Keith frowned, egging the other to tell.

Surprisingly Hunk caved in quickly, and it didn’t take any effort on Keith’s part for him to give in, “I told you I have a girlfriend, right?” Keith nodded at that, “She… was kidnapped by Rolo and Nyma. The two rebels that cornered you while you were on the run after the arena incident.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up at that, his frown deepening at the news, “I get them cornering me, but why would they kidnap your girlfriend? You’re a rebel too right? Their ally. Why would they do that?”

Hunk remained uncomfortably silent.

“Hunk…?” Keith trailed off, shifting beneath the sad gaze, an uncomfortable feeling rolling around the pit of his stomach, “...It’s me; isn’t it?”

There was a sharp intake of breath as Hunk sucked air between his teeth, clearly not comfortable that Keith found out and was more than a little distressed that it was all coming together like this, “I...I…”

“What do they want?” Keith tilted his head, frowning slightly, “Do they want to know how I damaged the arena? Are they demanding the technology I used?”

“Keith no.” Hunk moved and dropped his hands on Keith’s shoulders, the huge things wrapping around them easily, “Don’t you even worry about it. We’ll...we’ll figure something out.”

“It’s me then.” Keith hummed, familiar with the vague dodging, “They just want me. That makes sense. They probably don’t know what’ll happen if they hand me over…”

“It doesn’t matter Keith.” Hunk squeezed his shoulders, voice firm, “They’re not going to get you. We’re going to find a way to get Shay, and we’re going to do it without handing you over to them.”

“What if we don’t Hunk?” Keith questioned, going right for the meat of the matter, refusing to ignore the possibility after years of the worst case scenarios, “What if you have to choose between saving Shay and turning me over or keeping me safe and her getting hurt.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Hunk’s voice was firm, “And I’m _not_  going to make that choice. I know life hasn’t been fair to you Keith, and you probably think that’s the case, but...but...we _don’t trade lives_  Keith. I’m not trading you. You’re...you’re a _person_ , same as Shay, and I’m _not_  going to sink that low. You and Shay are _both_  going to be fine.”

“That’s naive thinking Hunk.” Keith lowered his gaze, “Things don’t always turn out how you expect them to. If you’re not willing to sacrifice something in return, you’ll never get what you want.” That’s how everything worked, wasn’t it? If you want something, you have to give up another thing. Unless you’re rich and can afford to buy everything with money, then there are things you’ll have to give up.

“Don’t worry Keith.” Hunk assured squeezing his arms, “We’ll sort this out. I promise that I’ll never give you up like that. We’re friends, aren’t we? I’d never sell you out.”

Upon hearing the word Keith looked up, staring into Hunk’s orbs confusingly. Friends? Since when did they become friends? If anything, they were more like acquaintances. They’d known each other for only three days but apparently it was enough for Hunk to already see him in that light, “We’re friends?”

“Yeah.” The other nodded, but then when he noticed the look on Keith’s face, he got the memo that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to say it just yet, “I mean, you’re a really cool guy. I’d like to see you as a friend but if you don’t like that then we don’t have to be. I didn’t earn your trust yet so I guess that we’re still acquaintances.” He let go of Keith’s arms, getting a feeling that he was overstepping his boundaries, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Keith felt a strange feeling take root within him, conflicted by what to think. Hunk… seemed nice enough, but he didn’t think he was ready to take that step just yet. What he could do though was understand how Hunk felt at the moment. He sympathised with him, hesitantly placing his hand on Hunk’s shoulder, “I want to help you find her. I know what it feels like to have someone you care about being taken like that. The feeling of not knowing what’s happening to them is… it eats away at you. I don’t want anyone to go through that.”

Hunk didn’t say anything right away, taking the time to look at his face that suddenly changed into a longing look. Hunk’s emotions were high on guilt and pity because he could only imagine what Keith went through all these years. The moment he heard that Shay was kidnapped, Hunk found himself unable to function, as if time itself would stop if he didn’t find her. He couldn’t imagine how his world would be able to function without Shay in it and yet Keith was going through the same thing, only for him it’s been _years_. It was at this moment that Hunk came to appreciate just how strong Keith was.

“Thank you Keith.” Hunk smiled at him softly, “I really appreciate it.” He put his hand on Keith’s free shoulder, “And I promise I’ll help you find Lance too.”

Violet eyes stared back at him confusingly but then he smiled and nodded, “Thanks Hunk.”

The larger teen found himself overwhelmed with emotion, almost sobbing, _almost_ , “C-Can I hug you?” The question came out of the blue but he couldn’t help the strong need to hug the other.

Keith blinked, taken aback, “S-Sure.” And as soon as he said it, Hunk threw himself against him. He squeezed Keith tightly but it wasn’t in a way that would make it uncomfortable for Keith, “O-Okay… we’re hugging now.” Keith slowly put his hand around the other awkwardly, and after a minute, Hunk slowly pulled away.

“I needed this. Thank you Keith.” Hunk smiled at him, “We’ll find them both, I’m sure we will.”

“Yeah.” Keith shifted a bit, his fingers couldn’t stop moving, nervously tapping against his palm, “I’m sorry, I’m not...I’m not used to this.”

“It’s okay buddy.” Hunk forced his shoulders to relax, leaning back against the counter, playing with the apple again, “You’ll get used to it soon. I bet Lance won’t ever stop hugging you when you’re together again, I know I won’t stop hugging Shay.”

Keith frowned again, feeling his sympathy grow as he stared at the pitiful sight. He knew this feeling well, and it was rough to see in the normal joyful, if a bit nervous, guy in front of him. Hunk seemed like a generally happy person, and he was part of the rebellion, more to help his girlfriend and her family than for himself. Now she’s in trouble and there’s nothing they could do.

Or...was there?

“Hunk?” Keith spoke again, drawing the other boy’s attention, “What if I go with you to get her? Act like I’m going to let you trade me in and then attack them.”

“That’s a _terrible_  idea Keith.” Hunk whispered, horrified, “Rolo and Nyma probably have explosives set up. Or they called the government and set up a coup. Or...or...any number of traps!”

“I’m just letting you know I’m willing to do it if nothing else comes up.” Keith shrugged, “I’m not willing to trade myself, because a lot more people than her will be hurt if I do, but that’s on the table if we can’t come up with a better plan.”

“I don’t know Keith…” Hunk fidgeted in his seat, “I don’t want to expose you to danger like that. It’d be best if we wait for Pidge and the rest to come downstairs so we can talk about it.”

The pale boy observed him for a minute before nodding, adding cereal to his bowl, “Alright.” He settled on that, seating himself before taking the first bite. He wondered if Colleen would be making anything today. She did ever since him and Shiro came to this house. First it was waffles and then it was eggs. Would she be making the same thing this time or something different again?

Hunk didn’t seem as depressed as he was when Keith came in, but he still had a transparent veil of worry all around him. It was all too familiar to Keith, and it was this familiarity that hit too close to home that made him pity Hunk more than anything else.

“Want me to make you something?” Keith was snapped out of his thoughts when Hunk asked, “I’m a good cook, or at least I’d like to think that I am. I could make you something, anything. It would help me pass the time.”

“Uhhh…” Keith felt guilty about it but he still didn’t trust people with making his food. He didn’t think he would be able to eat Hunk’s cooking right now, “No thank you, but you could make something for the others? I’m sure Colleen would appreciate the help.”

“You’re right.” Hunk agreed with that, “Okay, I’ll get cooking then. Sure you don’t want anything?”

“I’m good.” Keith thanked him anyway, “Thanks Hunk.”

“No problem buddy.” And with that the larger teen set to cooking. He took out pans, intent on making french toast and some cooked vegetables. Then pancakes and a couple of waffles as well. His mind was a mess and the more he cooked, the easier waiting for the others to arrive would be.

Keith spared a couple of glances at the other as he worked next to the stove, watching curiously to see how Hunk made the food. It wasn’t like he had anything he could do anyway. He was contently munching on his cereal, and after a couple of long minutes, Shiro finally came down to join them.

“There you are.” His body visibly relaxed as soon as he saw Keith, “I know you’re an early riser but I just couldn’t shake off this feeling that something bad happened. You okay?” Shiro approached Keith’s chair, leaning his hand against it as the younger brother munched on his cereal.

“We went to sleep really early plus I had a bad dream.” Keith shrugged, “Nothing to worry about. I just wanted to get out of bed.”

“I see.” Shiro sat next to him, greeting Hunk as he cooked, “Want to talk about it?”

“No, as I said, it’s nothing to worry about.” Keith waved him away, focusing on his cereal instead.

Luckily Shiro decided not to pry, contently setting himself at the table and closing his eyes, expelling the stress from his body and leaning his ear towards the stove, listening to the soft sizzling of cooking food.

“Are you okay Shiro?” Keith asked between bites of cereal, eyes leveled on his brother.

“I actually had a good night's sleep.” He answered, his head still tilted to listen to the sound of cooking, “I guess I’m just used to sleeping next to someone now.”

He didn’t say it, but Keith could hear how much he missed Adam in his voice. It was a silent thing between them, something they were both aware of and refused to acknowledge right now. They were talkers, the two of them, so Keith placed a hand on Shiro’s forearm and squeezed. The older brother cracked a smile, his eyes peering open, “Thanks Keith.”

“No problem.” Keith finished off his cereal, standing up to carry the bowl to the sink, “I’ll make you some coffee.”

He was resolved to make Shiro coffee, right up until he caught sight of the coffee maker. It was an espresso machine, latte making, monstrosity, and he wouldn’t even know which button to press for the coffee. He’s not even sure it’s legal for all those things to be stuck together in such a horrific way, and he quickly determines that there’s _no way_  they bought such a thing in a store. It had to be something Frankensteined together by the Holt siblings.

“I will not be making coffee.” Keith announces as he places his bowl in the sink. He eyed the evil machine as he backed away, not trusting it to not attack him on his way back to the table. Hunk was turning around now, his face still set in a frown, but at least looking a bit less miserable now. But Keith knew that would soon change, now that his task was almost done, and it was only a matter of time before Shiro knew of the new hitch in their situation.

Keith sat himself down at the table the same time Hunk set the food down, Shiro picked up the fact that Hunk was upset just as a yawning Matt made his way into the kitchen. The noirette wished he had that coffee now, because he’s tired and Zarkon is still lingering in his thoughts, and there’s a girl tied up somewhere and it’s his fault.

“Good morning fam. How are you all doing this fine morning?” Matt asked cheerfully as he entered the kitchen, trying to be optimistic in wake of yesterday's news. It didn’t seem to be working though, only receiving a polite greeting from Shiro and a quiet ‘morning’ from Keith. He greeted them back but then his eyes flew over to Hunk whose gaze was lowered, seated on a chair on the other side of the two brothers.

“Matt, could you make us some coffee? Keith wanted to make some but…” Shiro pointed to the espresso machine and the older Holt sibling obliged.

“Coming right up. Two cups of coffee then. Want one Hunk?” Matt turned to Hunk again, the teen finally looking up at him, “I could use one.”

“Right.” Matt went to work, and while he did Colleen appeared at the door, surprised to see that breakfast was already served.

“Oh my, everything is already done and on the table. Who cooked it?” She asked, and Shiro answered politely, “It was Hunk.” The older woman turned to the said boy at that, “Thank you Hunk. I appreciate it.”

“It’s no trouble.” The boy smiled, “Cooking helps me calm down so I took the opportunity. I hope it’s okay.”

“Of course! If only Pidge and Matt would do something like this once in a while I would be over the moon.” The mother scolded, moving over to sit next to the boy.

“Hey! We cook!” Matt complained, finishing Keith’s and Shiro’s cups of coffee. He placed them on the table in front of the two, then seated himself down as well. “It’s just that your cooking is too good. We can’t resist eating it.”

“I’m sure.” Colleen smiled knowingly, taking a plate and getting a little bit of each. At this point Pidge entered as well, her hair a mess and her glasses placed on the bridge of her nose.

“I need coffee.” She complained, not moving to make one herself. She felt too tired for that and instead opted to sit on the empty spot beside Keith, “I’m gonna die if I don’t get some sugar in me soon.”

“You okay sis?” Matt asked in concern, “You look like shit.”

“I know.” The girl hissed, “Didn’t sleep much last night. I had a shit ton of work to do while you all slept and I made some progress.” She eyed them all with a critically, “Without me you’d be nothing.”

“You’re the salt of the earth Pidge.” Keith stated flatly, taking a sip of his coffee to fight off the drowsiness. Still, he wasn’t exactly well rested himself, and at least Pidge had actually done something productive. He hadn’t done shit since he’d gotten here, no matter how much he wanted to pretend that he did something useful.

“Oh? So he has lips.” Pidge grumbled, making her way over to the espresso machine and working on her drink, “So what’s the news today family and friends?”

“Hunk’s worried about his girlfriend, I’m worried about Lance, and Shiro is worried about Adam.” Keith decided to speak for those present and get the formalities out of the way. Hunk made a distressed noise, and Shiro whirled on him with a raised eyebrow and his own, smaller, distressed noise.

“It’s been three days and I’m already looking forward to when I can come down the stairs for breakfast and the worst thing I hear is that someone slept on their arm wrong last night, or that they had a funky dream.” Pidge sighs, taking a sip of her espresso.

“I had a funky dream last night.” Keith responds honestly and helpfully.

Pidge snorts.

“Welp, might as well address the elephant in the room then.” Matt stabs a pancake with his fork, “How are we going to rescue Shay?”

“Wait? Who is that again?” Shiro gives a worried frown, someday the wrinkles around his eyes are going to be permanent.

“Remember those terrorists from a few days ago? The ones who cornered us?” Keith supplied, taking another sip of his coffee, “They kidnapped Hunk’s girlfriend, they want me in exchange.”

“Oh fuck.” Shiro breathed, rubbing his forehead as the bags under his eyes grew, “I thought something felt off this morning. What are we going to do?”

“We can’t hand Keith over, that’s not even an option.” Matt puts the terms on the table, “And we definitely can’t keep Shay there.”

“Can’t we just call the police?” Shiro asks tiredly, “Have Keith and I hide somewhere while you call the police. Shay is a citizen, and a terrorist faction kidnapping her would be something they would take charge of.”

“And have us on the government radar? I don’t think so.” Pidge brushed that idea away, “We can’t call attention to ourselves, we’re the Holt family. The family of a leading scientist that worked within the facility more than twelve years ago. If we call the police now, the government will keep a tight watch on us.”

“Pidge is right.” Matt backed up his sister, “Even if you guys hide, the government would keep an even tighter watch on us. Honestly, we’re lucky that they’re not knocking on our front door right now.”

Shiro raised a brow at that, tensing, “What do you mean?”

“Easy.” Pidge took a sip of her much needed caffeine, “My dad was involved in the project and had a huge part in it. We all know that. But now that Keith and Lance are on the government’s radar again, they’re going to keep a tighter watch on us. Matt and I already talked about this last night and…” She looked over at her brother, “We think that it would be better if we moved to one of our secret bases. We don’t want to go there if it isn’t necessary but now with the second blast, we might be moving there soon.”

“Does that mean that I won’t be able to see you for a while?” Colleen dropped her fork, worriedly looking over at her children.

“Hopefully we’ll get to stay here a bit longer.” Matt hoped, “At least until we get Shay.”

But the dawning truth of the matter was that it was dangerous to stay here under the Holt name. It made Keith realise that he’s putting yet another person at risk because of him. Colleen seemed like such a caring mother, she didn’t deserve any of this.

“But we’ll talk about that when the time comes.” Pidge decided, “Right now we have to focus on Shay, and luckily for you all, I have some leads.” The girl pulled up her holoscreen, everyone looking up at it. Hunk tensed, all attention on Pidge, “I’ve contacted some of my buddies and it looks like Rolo and Nyma didn’t contact the government yet. My bet is that they’re planning to do that after they get Keith.” She pulled up a picture of the place where the two wanted the exchange to happen.

“The Laughing Clown, it’s a theme park that the two chose for the exchange. It’ll be full of people which means they either want to do it in public in case Keith decides to blow everything up, or they have something set up behind the scenes. We’ll find out once we get there.” Pidge explained, “Either way, I think using Keith as bait would be the best option here since the government isn’t involved.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Shiro frowned, clicking his tongue, “Very risky.”

“We don’t have much of a choice.” Matt hummed, rubbing his eyes, “We’re depending a lot on Rolo and Nyma’s ignorance of the situation here. As far as they know Keith is just a terrorist with dangerous tech, they shouldn’t know about the biotics.”

“Still, what are you hoping for?” Shiro questioned further, a deep frown crawling across his features.

“We’re thinking a fake exchange.” Pidge stated, nodding to herself, “We cover Keith up, make sure no one can see his face, and we meet them and act like we’re going to take the deal.”

“He’s right dear.” Colleen is frowning now too, “What do you plan to do once you get there?”

The Holt siblings shared a long look, bags under both their eyes. Pidge really hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, had she? And Matt probably didn’t get much more than she did, if he got any at all. It was just further proof off what a mess he’d made of their lives. Keith bites his lip, feeling his body deflate. He should have given up at the arena. He should have quit the match and claimed to be ill the moment he knew something was wrong.

“We can’t make a big scene.” Pidge sighed, “Or else we’ll draw too much attention from bystanders and the whole thing blows up in our face. So we need to do this quick and fast.”

“Shiro is going to wait in a getaway car.” Matt told them, “And then as soon as the fake exchange is made Keith is going to attack Nyma and Rolo. Physical attacks. And we’re going to bolt, fast, because then we’re all going to be known accomplices after that.”

“We’re going to get into the car and head for a safe house.” Pidge explained further, “We’ll abandon the van halfway, and then we’ll have to take the underground rails to our safe house.”

 _“What?”_ Shiro, Keith, and Colleen all balked.

“That’s insane, there’s no way that will work.” Hunk replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“You want to go to the  _underground?”_ Shiro choked, his fists clenching around his cup, shattering it and splitting the porcelain, “Guys, they call it the ratways for a _reason_. It’s dark, as in no light, and full of psychos, and people who go down there usually end up getting _killed_.”

“It’s the only place the police won’t chase us.” Matt shrugs, “Yeah, it’s risky and dangerous, but we’re pretty good fighters, and you two are arena fighters. Between all of us we should make it to a safehouse on the edge of the city.”

“You cannot.” Colleen hissed, “I won’t have any of you running in the underground.”

“It’s the only way to save Shay _and_  keep Keith from getting caught.” Matt sighs heavily, “Pidge and I went over every option and we’re running out of time. We hoped to get Keith and Shiro to the safehouse without all this, but we’re running out of time. And we’ll be exposed as accomplices to Keith once all this happens, so we won’t be able to come home or use the roads. The ratways are the only way.”

“We would leave the city altogether if it weren’t for Lance.” Pidge sighs.

 _“Leave the city.”_ Hunk looks ready to throw up, “We would never make it. We can’t afford to even temporarily sell our citizenship, and there’s no way out without a pass. Except…”

“Except the ratways.” Pidge nods.

“That’s miles in the dark, with little light, and hidden murderers and serial killers all the way down, miles underground.” Shiro stresses.

“I’ll do it.” Keith supplies, pushing his cup away, “If that’s the only option then I’ll do it. So unless someone comes up with a better idea this is what we have to do.”

“I don’t know if I agree with this.” Shiro expressed his displeasure with the plan, “It’s too dangerous.”

“Then tell us what you have in mind instead.” Pidge faced him, “If you have a better alternative then please do tell us.” She clenched her hand, waiting for Shiro to answer. She really wanted Shiro to suggest something better, anything that would be safer than for them to go to the underground. But Shiro couldn’t, remaining silent and biting his lower lip. Exactly, just like Pidge thought.

“Then that’s the plan.” Matt sealed it, “We should prepare ourselves after breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us today.” He took a bite out of his food, silence suddenly overtaking the kitchen. Everyone was worried, all for their own reasons.

Hunk felt guilty, but his need to save Shay stood above everything else. He quietly ate, even though he didn’t have much of an appetite. Meanwhile, Shiro was thinking about what this would mean for them, the reality of their situation dawning on him. He suddenly realised that even though they were both safe in the Holt house, they were wanted men. The illusion of a nice home and family helped masked the reality of their situation, and Shiro found it all crashing down on him. Adam… his hair must have turned completely white by now because of worry.

“By the way.” Pidge decided to break the silence, making up the depressing news with good ones, “Lance replied.”

Keith perked up, all attention on Pidge, “Hunk told me he did. Do you have his message?”

“Of course.” Pidge raised her bracelet, switching on the holoscreen before pulling up the email. She selected the single audio that was there and played it. Everyone was quiet, waiting for the sound to come. When it did, they were surprised to hear that it was the sound of another music box.

Keith listened carefully and at first he couldn’t remember, but he was sure that this was the sound of Lance’s locket. He let himself smile, relief washing over him as the music played. Then he heard a voice, ‘I miss you... I-’ The voice stopped there, the music still playing.

The voice wasn’t one he recognised but that was normal because Lance wasn’t that kid with missing teeth anymore. He’d grown, just like Keith did. Both of their voices matured, just like the rest of them. Keith felt so many emotions at once, longing and happiness were the most prominent.

Hearing Lance’s voice for the first time like this felt strange, as if it was a different person. But deep inside he knew that Lance was still Lance, no matter how much the two of them have changed. Keith bit his lip, unable to hold in his emotions, “H-He sounds different.”

“Of course.” Pidge smiled at him, “He’s not a kid anymore. He sent this last night not long after we send our email. I bet he’s anxious waiting for a response.”

“And I can say it’s legit too.” Hunk added, “That’s what his voice sounded like when I ran into him at the park.”

Keith’s smile widened, hand tracing along his own locket. “We need to send a reply.” He said, thinking of what he should say back. Should he say anything? He bets Lance would like to hear his voice as well.

“Wait a second.” Shiro furrowed his brows, “If that’s Lance, then it would mean that he’s with Allura. After we rescue Shay, it might be a good idea to go to Allura’s estate. We should be able to find Lance there.” It would be risky but as long as it’s not him and Keith going, it should be safer, “If the point of the message was to contact us, then they also made sure to tell us where he could be.”

“Wait.” Matt paused in his eating, “We could try that. If what you’re saying is true, then we might find both Shay and Lance today.”

“No.” Keith surprised himself by saying it. His voice was firm though. The others looked at him, clearly surprised, but he didn’t hesitate, “Allura can’t be seen harboring known criminals. All we’ll be doing is endangering Lance. We’re better off sticking to the plan.”

Shiro’s brows knitted together, a worried frown on his face, “But Keith, this is your chance, you’ve been waiting twelve years for this.”

“And I’ll wait a little longer.” Keith states firmly, his mouth a hard line. He turns to Pidge, his expression loosening a bit, “Let’s send him a reply. And...and stick to the original plan. If it all works out then we’ll send him an email telling him where we are. If not then only one of us got caught.”

Pidge frowns just as deep as Shiro, “Are you sure Keith?”

“Yes.” Keith nodded, “We’ll have to prioritise Shay here, who is actively in danger right now. And once that’s done we’ll be in the ratways. The longer we’re there the more danger we’ll be in. We can’t afford to try and find a way to Allura’s house and then navigate to the safehouse. No, we’ll stick with the plan.”

Everyone frowned, but no one could argue Keith’s case. Pidge sighed, pushing up her glasses as she readied her bracelet, “Do you know what you want to say?”

“Yeah.” Keith nodded, features easing now that there was no argument. Pidge set up the email, readying the device to record a message, “Start now.”

“Oh...um...ah…” Keith blinks, startled, but resolves himself, “...hey Lance. It’s me.”

Keith stops, licking his lips, “I’m glad you’re okay, and safe. I’ve found a safe place...and I’ve been good...but…” He lets out a deep sigh, “...It’s not going to be safe much longer. By the time you get this you’ll probably know why. But...I’m going somewhere else that should be safe...it...it’s not going to be easy getting there though, so you might not hear from me for a few days.”

He paused again, considering his next words, “Don’t come after me though. I’m not lying about it being dangerous. And you could get yourself, or me, or others hurt if you come after me. But...when I get to that safe place I’ll send you a message, okay? Then...you’ll know where I am. And you’ll have a safe way to see me.”

He takes another deep breath, “I know you don’t like it, but this is all I can do. I promise I’ll contact you as soon as I’m safe. I _promise.”_

Keith’s hands twirl around themselves nervously, his body shaking a bit, “...Love you…”

He looks at Pidge, “Turn it off.”

Pidge nods wordlessly, her face carefully blank as she sends the message. She stood up to start walking, “Right, we should go. Shiro you should make an email for Adam. There’s no going back after this.”

“Thank you Pidge.” Shiro nodded, moving to stand up, but that’s not before he put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, squeezing gently. Keith appreciated it, returning a nervous smile.

They would need to get ready now before venturing out, saving Shay and then taking the long trek to the underground base. He liked it at the Holt house, maybe a little too much, but their time here came to an end and they had to move again. He’ll miss this little piece of peace he found.

 

* * *

 

Lance found himself sitting in front of Coran’s holoscreen, clicking the refresh button every few seconds without any result. He was slumped down against a desk, eyes closed as he waited for the one sound he was waiting for to beep.

No response yet.

He’d been in here for hours but there was no sign of a response just yet, but that didn’t mean that Lance would give up, determined to sit here for days if he had to. He had his holoscreen open as well, playing the tune Keith sent him. He listened closely, humming to it and learning to recognise the tune.

He thought back on the day before they were taken away but it was hard for him to remember the tune. He knows they played it but after twelve years, something like this was hard to remember.

He heard an anomaly within the sounds around him, the door of the room creeping open, “You still alive?” Romelle asked, coming in and closing the door behind her. “Waiting around like this the whole day can’t be healthy. Why don’t you come out to the garden with me? Just to take in some fresh air if anything.” She suggested, but raised a brow when she didn’t receive a response, “Earth to Lance! Hello!”

“Hmmm…” Lance grumbled in displeasure, “Not going anywhere. Have to wait for a response.” He slumped further down in his chair, unwilling to move.

“You can take the holoscreen outside.” Romelle frowned, “Come on! We’re going.” She tugged on his hand, trying to get him to stand up. But Lance was determined to stay, not making it easy for Romelle. She let go, frowning deeply at the way Lance returned back into his position, unwilling to do anything but sit around and click the refresh button.

“You’re leaving me with no other choice.” Romelle rolled up her sleeves, picking the other up bridal style, completely taking him by surprise as she quickly fast paced to the door.

“What the quiznak! Romelle! What are you doing!? _How_  are you doing this!? Put me down!” Lance struggled but Romelle wouldn’t give in. How did a girl like this with no visible muscle manage to pick him up!? It made Lance consider his own physique on a very serious level.

“Don’t underestimate girl power!” The blonde girl made her way to the balcony, letting Lance fall on the ground, “You’re as light as a feather Lance. Remember that when you start a fight with me.” And Romelle had a point. Lance felt a shiver run down his spine.

“I hate you.” He grumbled, carefully standing back up. He patted down his pants, opening up the holoscreen on his bracelet, “No reply yet.”

“He’ll reply. We just have to wait for it.” Romelle ushered him further onto a bench that was placed in the middle of two bushes, “But you can’t sulk about it the entire day if we don’t get anything. Be patient.”

“Twelve years Romelle.” Lance sighed tiredly, leaning his head against his hands, “I’ve been waiting for so long. It’s eating away at me.” All he wants is a reply, a sign that Keith is okay and that he’s still out there. Deep within him, he always wanted to know how Keith felt about him.

Did he forget about him? Moved on? What if he was just a part of the dark past that Keith wanted to throw away? Oh god… His anxiety was getting the better of him again. They’ll always be Keith and Lance, yes, there’s nothing to worry about, “What if he doesn’t reply?” Another idea hit him, “What if he moved to another city? What if he’s not even here? Slav said he was in District Six but what if he’s not here anymore? What if-”

“Hold the phone!” Romelle raised her hand up, effectively stopping Lance from saying anything else, “He’ll _absolutely_  reply and you’ll be a mess when he does. Trust me, Keith wouldn’t forget about you. If everything you told me is true then I _know_  that Keith wouldn’t forget about you. You’re more than friends, you’re family. One can never forget their family.” She stated firmly, “I bet Keith would beat you up if he saw you like this.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Lance frowned, but a small smile did appear across his face. Right, he has to believe. Keith wouldn’t forget him, they meant everything to each other back then. Surely Keith wouldn’t let go of that even now. No, he definitely wouldn’t, “He better hurry up then. I wonder what’s taking him so long.”

“Maybe he had something else to do? He’ll reply whenever he can, don’t worry.” Romelle assured, patting his back.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Blue eyes returned onto the holoscreen, watching for the email to appear and for the beep to sound. His eyes were on the top of the list when a notification suddenly came and a new message was received. The beeping came, both Lance and Romelle jumping up in shock.

The new email was empty apart from a single audio file, “It’s here! It’s him!” Lance practically yelled out in excitement, Romelle ushering him to remain quiet but even she had a hard time keeping her excitement down, “Open it!”

And Lance did, excitedly pressing the button. Both Lance and Romelle were dead quiet now, listening to the content of the file, ‘Oh...um...ah...hey Lance. It’s me.’ They heard a voice speak, and Lance wasn’t sure if it was really Keith but he’d like to think that it was. Was this what older Keith sounded like? Damn, his voice was deep. Compared to the innocent kid in his memories, this voice was much, much, deeper.

They listened to the message as it went, Keith talked about going somewhere dangerous before eventually arriving at a safe place. Lance found himself becoming uneasy, worrying for this person he only guessed was Keith. He wished he could confirm it, to know if it _really_  was him. But the email came from the same source as the music box music so it had to be Keith.

‘...Love you…’ They heard the voice say at the end and Lance’s breath hitched at that, face gaining a tint of red and heart beating loudly within his chest. Those words hit him in a way he didn’t expect, his hand went to his chest to try and calm himself.

He didn’t know if this was Keith but everything within him told him that it was. This _had_  to be Keith and if it was then.... Lance’s blush intensified, hiding his face within his hands. Oh god… Keith still cared. He _still_  cared and loved him all the same.

Lance found himself sobbing before he knew it, tears running down his cheeks. His Keith was still out there, and he didn’t forget about him. This was the best news he could have gotten. “Lance? You okay?” Romelle gently patted his back, smiling down at him in pure relief.

“No, I’m not okay. Keith is being unfair.” Lance sobbed, “I want to tell him I miss him too and so many more things. I want to tell him I’m okay and that I love him too and that I remember him and cherish our memories and just… just… _so many_  more things.”

“We can send him a reply.” Romelle suggested, “He said that he wouldn’t be able to talk to us for a while but when he gets to that safe place he’ll be able to talk to us again.”

“And what’s up with that?” Lance looked up at her, his face red and teary, “He wants me to sit around and wait while he’s out there putting himself in danger? Who does he think I am? I’m going to rub it into his face. If he thinks I’ll listen to him then he has another thing coming.” He brushed away his tears as best he could, standing up, “Where’s Coran? We need to track where this email came from.”

“But it’s untraceable.” Romelle stood up as well, “We tried to track the first email but it didn’t work.”

“It _has_  to work. We’ll make it work.” Lance made his way back inside, searching for the older man, “Where’s Coran?”

“I think he’s with Allura in her office.” Romelle replied, changing direction towards the room. Lance opened it without knocking, spotting both Allura and Coran inside, looking at a holoscreen.

“We got a reply from Keith!” Lance announced, “We need to work on-”

“Lance! This isn’t the right time.” Allura stood up from her seat, “Can we talk about this later? We have-”

“Later? This can’t wait! Keith just replied and he-”

“Mrs. Alteanis, we’re bringing Mr. Lotor to your office. He’ll be there in a minute.” Hira’s voice sounded from a comm in Allura’s bracelet, alerting them of the little time they had.

“Not now my boy!” Coran urged, pushing him out of the room, “We’ll talk about this after Lotor leaves.”

“But what if Keith is waiting for a reply right now?” The brunette stressed, “We have to reply. Allura can handle Lotor on his own.”

“Please Lance.” Allura pleaded, “We can’t-” A knock sounded on the door, already too late for him to get out. “Quick, hide in the closet.” Allura whispered and Coran was left with no choice but to push the brunette inside, Romelle joining him before Coran closed the door. It was unusual for offices to have closets, but it proved to be useful to Allura who liked to keep her business clothes there. “Come in.” She gave permission and the door opened, revealing a smiling Lotor on the other side.

“Allura, it’s a pleasure to see you. I hope I’m not interrupting.” Lotor entered and Hira closed the door behind him.

“Not at all, please sit down.” Allura smiled, praying to whatever god she could that Lance and Romelle would stay quiet.

“I saw your public address yesterday.” Lotor praised, settling himself in the seat across from her desk, his mechanical arms shining beneath the light, sleek and clean as ever “It was very thoughtful and kind of you to do such a thing for your district. You truly are unequaled when it comes to district management.”

“Thank you Lotor.” Allura smiled, setting herself straight in her seat, folding her hands and hoping that she didn’t seem as nervous as she felt. This had the potential to be a terrible situation, and she wasn’t keen to drag this out any longer than she needed to, “But I doubt you came all this way just because of my recent conference.”

Lotor’s smile fell, and he folded his arms in front of himself, straightening up as he took a more formal tone with her, “You are quite right. I’m afraid I have terrible news that I thought you should be privy to.”

Allura frowned, her heart pounding against her ribcage, “And what news would that be? And why is it so urgent that you felt the need to come here yourself?”

Lotor’s expression deepened, he leaned against her desk, resting his chin on the back of his hands, “Allura...I will openly admit that I have developed a bit of trust in you. More than I have for any other District Manager, as such I feel that it is imperative that I share this information with you. It is...distressing...and not something you will hear from the news outlets.”

The tanned woman’s blood froze in her veins, heart stopping for the briefest of moments, “What...sort of news is this Lotor?”

The man closed his eyes, almost seeming vulnerable and distressed, but he recovered himself and leaned back, looking her dead in the eyes, “It’s in regards to the terrorist behind the attack in the arena. I’m afraid the story goes much...deeper...than you could imagine.”

Allura was about to ask him to elaborate, even as her heart turned to ice and her ears rang, but Lotor didn’t bother to wait, pulling up a large holoscreen that showed off bold words, ‘Biotic’. He scrolled through the screens, stopping on one file under the name Romulus, next to it was a file named Remus.

“I’m afraid that the terrorist may be an unexpected form of military personal.” Lotor leaned forward, opening the Romulus file. A picture of a young boy popped up, a mop of black hair falling around his pale face, “Look familiar?”

“...The terrorist.” Allura replied after a moment.

“Exactly.” Lotor nodded, leaning forward, “I found out the truth, Allura. Keith Kogane is actually one of two successful experiments bred and built in a secret project run in the labs. Kogane, aka Romulus, my father’s personal weapon to bring new power to his city. But something went wrong, and years ago he and Remus were lost.”

Lotor stood up, placing his hands on the desk and leaning forward, “And I have it on good word that Remus may very well be alive as well. That means we have two possibly unstable military level personnel on the loose. You saw what just one of them can do when distressed, and it happened again in your district. I don’t know how you feel about my father’s work, but we need to prioritize finding them and getting them away from the general public.”

Romelle blinked from within the closet, turning to face Lance, “What’s up with the names?” She whispered curiously.

“Those are the names Zarkon gave us.” Lance clenched his hand, “Not like I’ll ever accept it.” Romelle blinked, but then turned and remained quiet, listening to the conversation outside.

“I remember you told me about a project. You mentioned secretive plans that the government was hiding.” Allura tried to compose herself despite her inner distress. Everything would have been so much easier if only Romelle and Lance weren't listening in on the conversation from the closet, “And you’re sure about all this?”

“A hundred percent certain.” Lotor’s tone left no room for any doubt, “These military weapons are loose and have been for twelve years. It was only after the arena incident that they blew their cover and revealed their existence to the world again. We _need_ to find them before my father does, otherwise we’re all doomed.”

“Calm down young fellow.” Coran chirped in, “Perhaps it would be better if you sat back down.” He motioned for Lotor to sit down, and the other obliged.

“And… What would you do if you found them Lotor?” Allura asked the one question that she hoped he would answer correctly. She wanted to trust Lotor, sought a deeper bond with him, but she knew that she couldn’t risk revealing Lance if Lotor was a danger to him. They needed to know where Lotor stood on the matter, and depending on his answer, Allura would decide whether he was worthy of her trust or not.

“I’d take them to a quarantine area. We don’t know if they’re unstable or not, that could potentially explain the sudden shockwave within the colosseum. We’d need to keep them away from the general public as well and then study them. I seek knowledge, and studying these two specimens would be more than exciting. They could potentially hold the secrets to understanding dark matter, something we know little about. Twelve years have passed, and since then their biotics have had the time to evolve further. There’s so much we could learn from them.”

Allura calmed herself, trying not to show emotion, “If what you’re saying is true, then the way I see it is that they are two innocent children. Exposed to brutal experimentation without a choice in the matter. Isn’t there sympathy within you Lotor?” Allura asked, almost pleading, “Instead of harming them, we should try to earn their permission in our plans. They’ve both been through enough.”

Allura’s words took Lotor aback, lifting his eyes to met her own, “The files never described them as people but rather objects. In some of the files they even referred to them as ‘it’ or ‘that’.” Lotor paused for a second, “You are right Allura, they were innocent children, but they’ve grown now. We need to secure them before any danger may come to them, or anyone else around them.”

The tanned woman nodded seriously, her heart still pounding in her ribs as her eyes met Lotor’s, “But how Lotor? I don’t want to send two people, who were experimented on, back to a laboratory.”

Lotor grabbed his chin with his hand, thinking deeply on the question, a troubled expression painting its way across his features, “I’ve tried to send my generals to capture Kogane after the initial attack on the arena, but their attempt to subdue him was met with resistance. Then when my generals tracked who I suspect must have been Remus in your District’s market he fled before they could even see him.”

Allura pursed her lips, “That’s understandable. If they truly are escaped lab specimens then they must fear that they’ll be exposed to more experimentation.”

“It does leave a problem with tracking them however.” Lotor admitted, folding his hands, “I have my generals keeping track of areas with fluctuating dark matter, but they’re being very careful. And it may be very possible that they will continue to resist even if we do manage to track them. If we want to keep them out of my father’s hands, and away from his labs, then it will be prudent that we use stealth and attack while they’re least expecting it.”

“Is diplomacy truly out of the question Lotor?” Allura frowned deeply, leaning away from the man as her gaze remained steady on his, “If at all possible I would encourage peace above anything else.”

“As would I Allura.” Lotor sighed deeply, his hands still folded, “But it’s very possible they may not listen to us. They’re clearly afraid that any government officials will return them to their previous position, and they may use force if we’re not careful. You saw what Kogane could do Allura, we don’t want them to become hostile. I genuinely do not believe they mean to, but if they’re not emotionally stable then they could prove to be devastatingly dangerous to others and themselves.”

Lotor tapped at his holoscreen again, pulling up another file. This one of a grown Keith Kogane, his face sharper, mouth set in a thin line. It was his identification photo, shown to have been updated only two months ago. Next to the picture was a list of personal details. His birthday, date of graduation from school and where he graduated from, ID number, and what looked like a long list of personal history. Allura balked at the display. This sort of information was normally reserved for the District Manager of the individual, family, or the president himself. Technically it was illegal for her to be seeing this, as Keith was not a resident of her District.

“I’ve looked into Kogane.” Lotor explains, “He was raised in District Four by a woman who is supposedly his paternal aunt. I can only assume the woman, Aki Shirogane, had some responsibility in his kidnapping. He has a whole fabricated backstory. Supposedly, he’s her brother’s son, and came to live with her and her own son after his father’s tragic death by fire.”

Lotor scrolls down the page, showing a long line of text, “Ms. Shirogane apparently isolated him from the outside world for the first month few months, using the excuse of his supposed father’s death. Then when she allowed him to attend school he showed extremely antisocial behavior. Apparently there were some instances of bullying that ended with him violently attacking his tormentors. Ms. Shirogane had him pulled out of his biology courses due to panic attacks, and he was proven to have PTSD.”

Lotor waved away his holoscreen, leaning against the desk, eyes boring into Allura’s, “Kogane grew up in a poverty ridden area, very possibly raised by his kidnapper, and has been proven to have many mental health disorders, and possible personality disorders. I would feel much better if he was given a full psychological evaluation to prove he’s not a danger to himself and others.”

“And what will we do if he’s not Lotor?” Allura frowned, crossing her arms, “Or if he is? I understand your concerns, but I refuse to take two people who may very well have been tortured since birth and put them back into a lab to be experimented on again.”

Lotor’s shoulders slumped, his frown deepening a bit before it thinned out and he spoke again, “Studying them doesn’t necessarily mean we have to experiment Allura. There are peaceful ways to do this. X-rays, observation, medical checks that don’t involve knives, skin and hair samples. We could study them and get them any help they need.”

“And what if they’re not a danger Lotor?” Allura continues to question, “They’ve been out there for twelve years and this is the first incident. We cannot lock them away if they’re healthy.”

Lotor sighs deeply, “You have a good heart Allura, and I’ve always admired that, but you must understand the situation. My father is always watching, and it’s only a matter of time before he finds them if we don’t do something. Then they’ll most certainly be back at the labs. And while my father originally planned to keep them and have his scientists make more biotics with time, the scientist responsible is deceased and the secret to their power has been lost with him. Honerva is going to have to figure out the process by...reverse engineering you might say.”

Allure _paled_.

“Exactly.” Lotor nodded, “I know my mother and father, they won’t risk one biotic, but if they catch both...well…”

“I’ll…” Allura closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, “...I’ll have to think about this Lotor. This is...a lot to take in.”

“Very well.” Lotor nods, his face twisting in sympathy, “I’ll take my leave. But remember Allura, tell no one of this. And don’t mention it in public or on your bracelet without a jammer. Remember, my father is always watching. Come to me when you’ve made a decision.”

“Alright.” Allura nodded and Lotor slowly turned to leave. The conversation took her by surprise, leaving her blood ice cold. Lotor told her about this before but now he had more information and what he told her was more concerning to say the least. A part of her knew all of this, but hearing it from someone else made everything all the more real, “Goodbye Lotor.”

“Until we meet again. Remember to be careful, and contact me as soon as you’re ready.” The man bid his farewell, leaving the room to be escorted by Hira off of the property. As soon as the door closed, Allura slumped down in her chair, exhausted by the conversation..

The closet door opened, Romelle and Lance coming out with their own concerns. Allura would have preferred it if Lance didn’t hear what was being said but she couldn’t do anything about it now. He was old enough to face this on his own, and she didn’t want to hide anything from him unless she absolutely had to.

“That is… concerning.” Romelle broke the silence, “What do we do?”

“We stay composed and calm.” Allura sighed, “Any rash decisions may expose us. As Lotor said, Zarkon is watching, and he’ll know as soon as something is amiss. Seeing as I’m a District Manager, any suspicious actions I take are more likely to be noticed.”

“We can’t let them find Keith.” Lance spoke, shaken, but trying to keep calm, “He said he was going to a dangerous place. I don’t know where that is but that’s what we’ll have to find out. Is there any way we can track where those emails came from?” He turned to Coran, the older man stroking his moustache worriedly.

“I’ve been trying to trace the message back to its sender but it was impossible. Only someone with high skills would be able to hide their IP address in such a way that it’s untraceable. I’ve only seen such skilled hackers while working with the rebels. Although it could also be government employed hackers or freelance hackers. There’s no way to tell.”

“Is there really no way to know where it came from?” Lance tried again, feeling himself become more and more anxious, “Keith may get captured if we don’t and I… I…” Romelle placed her hand on his shoulder in assurance.

“Maybe it would be best if you listen to the reply he sent us.” She motioned for Lance to open his holoscreen, then pressed play on the opened email. Keith’s voice took over the room as everyone listened carefully. The message was concerning and they could feel the uncertainty and nervousness in Keith’s voice.

Then the message ended and as it did, Lance heard those words again, ‘...Love you…’ They broke him, just like the first time. He found himself a crying mess, brushing the tears as best he could out of his face. Romelle hugged him gently, letting him bury his head into her shoulder.

“What do we do?” The blonde girl asked, tilting her head to look at Allura and Coran who both seemed more than concerned by the message.

Allura willed herself to remain calm, turning to Coran, “Is there really no way for us to track the message?”

The older man shook his head, “I’m afraid not.” He regretted saying it, but there was nothing else he could do, “Even I can’t do anything to locate the source.”

“Alright.” Allura took it as is, accepting that it wasn’t an option, “Then we’ll need to send a message back. Lance, along with what you want to say, we need you to tell Keith to come to a certain location where we’ll meet. We’ll send him the coordinates to decode.”

“And where should that be?” Coran asked curiously.

“We can’t risk exposing the Alteanis estate or anything that might be directly related to myself.” She thought of what they could do. They’d need a safe enough of a place for them to meet, out of sight and discrete, “Set the coordinates for Blue Street. We’ll pick Keith up with anyone that is there by car. That way we’ll be on the move and we’ll be able to make our escape should anyone see us.”

“On it.” Coran got to work, working on getting the coordinates together.

“Lance, are you able to record the message now?” She turned to the brunette, concern lingering on her face.

The boy sniffed but looked up, “Yeah. I have a lot of things I want to say.” So many that he didn’t even know where to begin.

“Good. Hopefully Keith will agree to our plan once he gets to the safe location and replies. We have to have faith.” She hoped with her very being that Keith would be okay and that he’ll contact them as promised. They couldn’t afford to lose either one of them. While they were safe in the knowledge that Honerva wouldn’t go to extreme lengths to harm them, they would still be within the labs, and there, they’d face all the same kind of horrors they escaped from twelve years ago.

 

* * *

 

Keith had known _of_  the amusement park, of course he had, he used to dream of it back when he was in elementary school and all the kids whispered excitedly about those rare moments when their parents could afford a ticket, but the Shirogane household could never afford it. Shiro had gone a few times before Keith became part of their lives, but between paying for monthly jammers and bills. Aki simply couldn’t take them anymore.

It should have been a dream come true that he was here, at the Laughing Clown, with its huge roller coasters and bright colors, the smell of fried food and cotton candy heavy in the air. The air was filled with distant, but joyful, screams as the coasters rolled by. The first thing Keith saw as he walked inside was a giant, blue, ride called the Twisting Tornado that had at least three loops and went backwards.

There were also clowns everywhere. Clowns handing out balloons, clowns putting on shows, clowns selling drinks. There were some girls dressed as fairies as well, and a couple of fairytale characters, like a princess running from a dragon, and a dashing knight. A younger him would have loved it here, even with the crowd, because the whole air felt joyful and full of laughter. And a smaller Keith would have loved the characters, and probably would have chased them down for a hug or kiss on the cheek.

This should have been a reward after years of hard work, payoff for a life spent well, yet as he maneuvered his way through the gift shops and food stands all he could feel was dread. Pidge and Matt led the group solemnly, beelining towards the benches where Rolo and Nyma usually conducted business.

The noirette pulled his hood further over his head, trying to hide as much of himself as possible. Beside him Hunk tittered nervously. It was his job to make sure no one recognized the infamous Kogane terrorist. Shiro, the lucky bastard, was still in the van, waiting for them. The gate was within sight, and they would have to bolt for it as soon as they made their move so it didn’t shut on them. Luckily Pidge had made sure there would be another delay on top of whatever confusion came from their actions.

Nyma and Rolo were in sight now, lounging on the bench. Beside them was a rather nervous looking woman, eyes blown wide and shaking slightly.

“Shay.” Hunk’s breath hitched as soon as he saw his girlfriend, shaken but still trying to maintain calm. Keith noticed the change in the way he walked, and more importantly on his face. He knew that look very well, and knew that a lot was at stake here.

Without stopping, they made their way to the two rebels, stopping only when they were in front of their bench. “We’re here.” Hunk said, keeping himself cool and composed, “Let Shay go.”

“What’s the rush?” Rolo teased, clicking his tongue, “Show us Kogane first and then we can talk business.” The two eyed Keith’s form but were unsure of his identity because of the hood. The pale body peeked from under it, showing his face to the two. Nyma and Rolo immediately lit up, satisfied that they decided to play along with their plans, “Alright, here’s how it’s gonna go.” Rolo began explaining.

“We’ll give you this girl but first you give us Kogane.” Nyma handed cuffs over to Pidge who examined it within her hands. They were high tech, ones only the police would have. They were most likely stolen, “Put those on and then come sit next to us in this girl’s place. After the exchange is over, the rest of you are free to scram.”

This was it. Once he put those cuffs on there was no going back. Everything, safety, certainty, the Holt house, they would all be gone. The moment those cuffs clicked shut there was no guarantee of anything, it would all be chaos, a hasty plan, and blind luck. Pidge frowned deeply, turning towards him with the opened cuffs. She was nervous, her face twisting with worry as she approached him, mind probably running with second thoughts. He held his wrists out, a sign of trust he hoped, a sign of confidence he didn’t actually feel. She clicked them closed around his wrists, the magnetic locks pull his hands together harshly, forcing them so tight together that his arms would become numb in no time.

“Right, now send him over, slowly.” Rolo commanded, pulling the still shaking Shay into a standing position, his expression easy, “No funny business now, we’re in public.”

Keith gulped, closing his eyes and taking a calming breath before he felt Matt’s hand on his back, lightly pushing him forward. He took a tentative step, one at a time, until he was out of arm's reach of his allies. Rolo lightly pushed Shay forward as well, making the girl stumble a bit as she stepped. She was obviously on the verge of panic, wide eyed and shaking, tears at the corner of her eyes. They passed each other briefly, and he could hear the almost muted hitches of her breath.

It didn’t take long before Rolo and Nyma roughly grabbed him, pulling him flush against the man’s side, a mock of a lover’s embrace. He felt something press against his side from beneath Rolo’s coat, then a zap sent his whole body twitching with painful racks of electricity. He jerked, almost uncontrollably, the nodes between his skin singing and reacting violently as he was tased. It took everything, _everything_ , he had to keep the violent explosion from overtaking them, but the mass of dark matter was already built up, leaving him surrounded by ultraviolet energy.

“What the fu-” He didn’t let Rolo finish, he reached on instinct, knowing he needed to spend the energy without hurting anyone, so he did something he hadn’t done since he was in the labs.

He warped.

Warping was strange to say the least. He knows from watching Lance that it _looked_  like disappearing, but in reality it was just letting the nearby matter physically carry him at such a fast speed that the naked human eye couldn’t perceive it. He focused on the gate, heading for it, instinctively grabbing one of his companions as he felt the waves roll around him with the jerking motion of the transportation. The first time he tried this was an accident, because he’d just wanted to  _get away_  from Haggar in that lab room, and he’d been left confused and stumbling, with whiplash and an upset stomach that had the small boy spewing chunks of food. Haggar had been _delighted_.

Now, when he was older and stronger, he didn’t quite throw up, but he stumbled a bit, his legs like jelly as he landed outside the gates. His body was pained, twitching still as he fell against the side of the gate. Pidge, the one he must have grabbed, didn’t manage that much however, landing on her knees and heaving lightly. Beyond the gates his companions made noises, confused, mildly panicked, and the guards were already reeling from the shock.

“Come on!” Keith called to his team, “I’m over here! Let’s go!”

“You little!” Rolo growled, settling his eyes on the rest of the group that were still nearby, moving to grab at anyone he could. Nyma joined him as well, free to do so when some people already began to mildly panic. Matt moved to twist Rolo’s arm, effectively preventing the man from getting ahold of Shay.

Not like he could with the way Hunk stepped in front of her, effectively protecting her from both of the rebels. He managed to take down Nyma, kicking her onto the ground. They made a run for it, racing towards the gates to join Keith and Pidge who were already there.

“Ugh… W-What high tech did he use?” Nyma muttered while Rolo hissed under his breath.

“No time to think about that. We have to follow them.” The two rebels ran through the crowd, both running from the guards at the park and trying to catch the group. A van suddenly pulled up on the road beside Keith, Shiro behind the wheel, opening the door for them all to quickly hop inside.

“Quick! Get in!” The older brother urged, and Keith managed to somehow get himself and Pidge into the van before the others jumped inside as well. Matt barely managed to close the door when Shiro pressed on the gas, quickly putting them in motion.

“Shit.” Rolo cursed, he and Nyma ran further down the road. The blonde girl grinned as the guards chased them, pressing a button to reveal their ride which was hidden in cloak mode. They hopped onto the hoverbike, revving it up before it took to the road.

“Get back here!” One of the guards yelled after them, calling in for reinforcements.

“Quick! Don’t let them shake us off!” Rolo held onto Nyma as they drove, the girl driving at high speeds.

“Who do you think you’re talking to!?” She zeroed in on the van, her grin widening further the closer they got.

Meanwhile, inside the getaway van chaos reigned. Shiro proved deadly behind the wheel, speeding past cars like a pro. The rest of the party were smushed into the back, crammed on top of each other from the rush. They squirmed into place, Matt crawling from the pile and worming his way into the front seat to help Shiro, shouting directions as he went. The car jerked a lot, throwing around the unsecured bodies as they tried in vain to straighten themselves.

“What the _hell_  was that Keith?” Pidge hissed from on top of him. They were pressed chest to chest, uncomfortably close, smashed beneath the weight of both Hunk and his mysterious girlfriend. Pidge was still whiplashed too, looking a little green from her unexpected trip with the warp.

“I can warp.” Keith grunted, trying to push everyone from on top of him, but his arms felt like jelly and it was getting hard to breathe.

“I know that, I saw the files.” Pidge tried to push herself up, but she simply wasn’t strong enough, “I’m asking  _why you did it in front of all those people?”_

“They tazed me, the nodes overloaded, it was either that or an explosion or something.” Keith defended as the car jerked again, throwing Hunk and Shay further against the smaller bodies, knocking the breath from them. Gods, they hadn’t even made it to the underground yet.

Shay finally managed to move at least, crawling from on top of them and into the third row of seats behind them. With Shay’s weight gone it was easier for Hunk to orient himself and crawl upwards, going after her and finally freeing the two from being pinned beneath him.

“Shay!” Hunk cried as he landed in the backmost seat, throwing his arms around her, “I was so worried!”

“Hunk!” The girl cried, throwing her own arms around him and burying her face in his chest, “I was so scared!”

“Shay, I am so, so, _so_ , sorry.” He ran a hand through her hair in a gesture of comfort, “I had no idea that they would ever do something like that! I’m so sorry you were dragged into this.”

“We’re okay too.” Pidge gasped as she crawled upward, helping Keith get his cuffs off before leaning over the back of the seat to give Hunk a withering glare. She waved weakly at the girl, as she tried to catch her breath, “Hi Shay. Sorry you got kidnapped.”

“Ms. Pidge?” Shay’s eyes were still wide, as if she was only just realizing who all surrounded her. The girl looked around, dazed and confused as Keith himself moved to slump over the seat, registering that the van was full and moving, “What’s going on? Where are we going?”

“Hi, I’m Keith.” The pale boy raised an arm to wave, “Sorry I got you kidnapped.”

“Yo...You’re the terrorist!” Shay’s head whipped around to look at her boyfriend, “Hunk! What’s going on? I thought you didn’t interact with the terrorist branch of rebels?”

“It’s...a _long_  story.” Hunk grimaced.

“Hang on tight kids!” Shrio called as the van made a particularly sharp turn, jerking them all to the side, Pidge hit a wall and cursed. Shiro didn’t seem to register that though, “I’m shaking these guys! Be ready to bolt for the underground any moment now!”

“The _underground_.” Shay gasped, rounding on her boyfriend, “ _Hunk_.”

“We’re all sort of criminals now.” Hunk grimaced again, sounding regretful, “I’ll explain later.”

Outside the van things weren’t much better. Their ride jerked between cars so close that even a single second of wrong timing could have sent them into a collison. By now they’d gained some attention from the police, but Shiro was playing it fast and risky, weaving so fast that they simply couldn’t keep up. Rolo and Nyma were keeping up though, hot on their trail.

The entrance to the underground they were using was close by, and once they were within range they would have to ditch the van and bolt. There would be no going back once they got beyond the darkness of the abandoned entrance. That was the death zone, and from there they would have no choice but to go forward.

All of them yelped in surprise when a gunshot was heard outside the van, Shiro made a sharp turn to the left and knocked everyone to the side. There were groans all around as Shiro straightened the car again, trying to stay on course, “Hold on!”

“Oh god!” Hunk moved his arms around Shay in an attempt to protect her from all the bumps and sharp turns. Keith turned to look out the window, eyes widening when he saw that Nyma and Rolo were just beside them.

“Watch out!” He warned but was too late. Rolo broke the glass to his window with a metallic object and they all had to shield themselves from the scattered glass. When Rolo aimed the weapon at them again Keith used the opening he found, grabbing the other end and pulling on it from his side. Luckily the weapon was an ordinary stick and not a knife.

Keith managed to wrestle the weapon out of Rolo’s hands, pulling it inside, “Hold on!” He yelled, opening the door on his side of the van. Pidge held on tightly while Hunk and Shay held onto the front seats.

Violet eyes scanned over the hoverbike quickly, and as soon as he spotted the main engine, he pierced it with the weapon. The hoverbike gave a loud cry and unsurprisingly it began to slow down.

“You’ll pay for this!” But Rolo was having none of it, risking his life and jumping from his seat on the hoverbike onto the van. Keith managed to close the door behind him but Rolo was still on their roof.

“Shiro! He’s on top of us!” Keith warned his brother, prompting Shiro to execute a couple of sharp maneuvers. Rolo seemed determined enough to maintain his grip, and they didn’t see him falling off. What they did see what a small sharp knife pierce the roof of their van, startling them all.

Shay yelled in fright, holding onto Hunk tightly. Luckily the entrance to the underground was within their sights. Shiro stepped on the gas, accelerating before coming to a quick stop further into the tunnel.

He drove the van inside as deep as he could until the tunnel became too narrow and he was forced to stop. As soon as the van halted, Rolo jumped down, opening the door and grabbing Keith’s arm, yanking him out of the van.

The pale boy hissed as he fell, spotting Rolo on top of him, taking out a small pocket knife that was hidden on the side of his pants. Keith let his instincts take over, grabbing Rolo’s hand before he could attack. Thinking quick, Keith hit Rolo’s leg, making him fall down on the ground and flipped their positions.

Now on top, Keith managed to knock the knife out of his hands, leaving him defenceless. The rebel gasped, defeated and outnumbered, “You scum. I knew you wouldn’t play fair, I-” He didn’t get to say anything else when Keith punched him in the face, effectively knocking him out.

“Nice going Keith. Now I see how you earned your title of the second best.” Pidge sighed in relief, hopping out of the trashed van. She folded the seat so that Hunk and Shay could get out as well and as soon as everyone was accounted for, they began making their way further inside.

“Let’s go. If I could get here with the van then the police can as well.” Shiro got out, walking over to his brother, “You okay Keith?” He offered his hand, helping him up.

“I’m fine. This guy wasn’t even a good warm up.” Keith patted his pants as the group quickly made their way further inside. Pidge moved onto the next phase of their plan, distributing lights so that they could see in the vast darkness.

“That’s good to hear.” Shiro smiled at him while Hunk and Shay took a moment to embrace each other. The two lovers stopped in place, slowing them down. Shay was clearly distressed though, so they gave the two a second to gather themselves.

“I’m so sorry Shay. I promise that I’ll explain everything later. For now you need to trust us. I wouldn’t be going to the underground if there was another way.” Hunk tried, holding her tightly yet gently, trying to soothe her shaking.

“We’re in the underground.” Shay spoke, horrified, shaking still.

He didn’t blame her. They’d driven far into the underground, far enough that they couldn’t see the light of the entrance anymore. Now the only thing they could see was the inside of the van, everything around them pitch black and _eerily_  silent. It was cold as well, not freezing, but the fact that no sunlight had touched this place was evident. And that wasn’t even getting into the stuffy air that made it hard to breathe.

They probably should have put Rolo inside the van and locked it, but fuck him, he’d just tried to kill them. Besides, he was going to be safer than they were in a moment.

Shiro, the only one in the group with a mechanical limb, activated the lights installed in his arm, the soft purple providing the only light around them, just bright enough to show off Shiro’s upper body and whomever stood nearest to him, which was Pidge and Shay. It felt good to be able to see Shiro, but having light down here was a double edged sword.

“Alright.” Shiro’s face was grim, his voice slightly bouncing of the walls, “I want to be very clear. We are in _the_  most dangerous part of the city. This is where murderers and rapists come to hide when they want to escape the law. It’s deep, it’s dark, there are hundreds of miles of tunnels, and there are going to be scary things here. I want those most capable of defending themselves taking the front and rear. Those who aren’t as confident take the middle. Keep your hands on each other, because I’m going to cut my light soon. Keep your ears open, if you hear _anything_  alert the others.”

“I’ll take the rear.” Keith spoke up, “I’m good at turning sneak attacks around.”

“Good.” Shiro nodded, “I’ll stay in front incase someone tries to rush us. Matt, you stay behind me and whisper the directions in my ear. If you’re careful and hide the holoscreen behind me we might not be spotted.”

“I...I don’t fight.” Shay spoke nervously, and the little Keith could see of her she was still shaking horribly, “So...I should probably take the middle.”

“I’ll stay behind Shay.” Hunk said, his voice more sure than Keith had ever heard it, “I can keep people off Shay _and_  cover Keith if someone jumps him.

“Guess that leaves me between Matt and Shay.” Pidge shrugs.

“Good, everyone line up.” Shiro commands, no nonsense, “Remember not to let go of your partner unless you have to.”

They took the time to line up, grabbing onto each other carefully, using the light from Shiro’s arm to orient themselves. Once they were all settled and ready Shiro killed the light, leaving them in the darkness.

It was so dark, darker than anywhere he’d ever been. He was surrounded in the black, and he bet he wouldn’t be able to see his own hands if he wanted to. He certainly couldn’t see Hunk, who he was standing closer to than he ever had, his hand wrapped around his upper arm. Shiro must have started walking, because he found himself being pulled forward. Their footsteps were the only noise around them, if you excluded the squeaks of rats and distant sounds of cracking stones.

It hadn’t even been ten minutes and he already hated this.

Keith didn’t know how far they had to walk, but it must have been a long way, because they walked for what felt like hours, his legs growing more and more tired and his nerves more and more frayed as they went. He became hyper aware, every noise around him sounding through his ears and playing with his brain.

So far they’d been lucky. They’d only seen one light, and it hadn’t passed over them as it walked by, so they were okay. Still, he’d feel much better once they got out of this awful place. He’d already heard growls and what sounded like mad chuckling at one point, a man’s voice repeating the word “eat” like a mantra.

They hadn’t stopped to rest yet, all of them too revved up to even consider it, each wanting to just get to whatever safehouse Matt and Pidge had set up.

Keith prayed that they wouldn’t be down here much longer.

“Guys? Is everyone okay?” Hunk broke the silence between them when their surroundings became silent again, startling most of the group with his voice.

“We’re okay Hunk. Trying to get out of here as fast as we can.” Pidge whispered back, looking at the front and onto the holoscreen Matt was holding up. According to the damn thing they shouldn’t be far away from the exit, and then finally their secret base.

“It would be a good idea to sound off.” Shiro suggested at the front, “Shiro here.”

“Matt here.” The older Holt sibling replied, and soon everyone behind him.

“Pidge here.”

“Shay here.”

“Hunk here.”

“Keith here.”

Shiro sighed in relief, “Good. Let’s keep moving, we’re not far away from the safehouse.” He kept his pace, relieved now that he knew nobody was missing. The sounds around them were getting to him, and he could swear that he heard a very faint sound of someone screaming minutes ago. He didn’t stop, wouldn’t dare to in such a fearful place.

Keith kept a tight hold on Hunk, feeling goosebumps on his skin. The coldness of the tunnels was getting to him, as well as the incredible darkness that was all around them. A part of him regrets coming here but essentially knew that they didn’t have any other choice. It was either this or risk capture, and he’d choose this than the labs any day.

Nothing could compare to the horrors he experienced within the labs, not even this.

He flinched, tilting his head when he heard the faintest sound of footsteps. He listened closely to try and see if he’d hear it again but there was nothing. Only silence. Keith’s hold on Hunk tightened further, keeping pace with the rest.

All of a sudden he had this strange feeling that they weren’t alone, and it made his body shiver. It might have been him becoming paranoid, but he’d like to think that wasn’t the case. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat, but no matter how hard they worked to adjust, they’d never be able to see through this thick blackness.

Keith felt a cold wave run up his spine when he felt someone breathe down his neck. He quickly moved in reflex, punching the air behind him. It alerted Hunk who felt him take one of his hands off his shoulder, “Y-You okay man?”

“I don’t know.” Keith answered back, his senses heightened, “I could have sworn that someone was just breathing down my neck.”

“W-What?” Hunk shrieked, “A-Are you sure?”

Keith felt Hunk lowkey begin to panic, as if they already weren’t paranoid enough. He stretched his hand behind him again but didn’t feel anything. He must have imagined it. Yeah, that was probably the case, “It may have been the wind.” Keith decided to go with that, not wanting to scare Hunk any more than he already had.

He felt the larger teen sigh in relief, “Don’t scare me like that man. I almost had a heart attack.”

“Sorry.” Keith apologised, remaining silent as they all walked. He couldn’t shake off the strange feeling he had, the feeling that somebody may be following them. He’ll admit that he felt out of place since entering the underground, but now his senses were screaming at him that something wasn’t right, and it made him uncomfortable.

Then he felt it again, a breath against his neck. He moved to strike behind him quickly, startled that he managed to hit someone. Keith’s eyes widened in utter horror, his heart racing a hundred miles per hour. “Guys-” He didn’t manage to alert the rest because a large hand was suddenly clamped over his mouth, preventing him from making any kinds of sounds.

But Keith was a fighter, he willed himself to make small noises but even those were stopped when he felt something prick his neck, making him tired and drowsy. Whatever it was it had an immediate effect. His body became limp, the figure, or figures, detached his body from Hunk’s arms but did it in such a way that the other wouldn’t notice.

They seem to have come prepared, placing fake weights on Hunk’s arms without the other even noticing. Keith’s hands slipped away, lost within the darkness without anyone knowing. The pale boy was out of it, barely conscious and aware of what was going on. But even if he was conscious he doubts he would be able to see anything apart from the vast darkness around.

He let his eyes close, greeted by blackness once again, as if he never closed them in the first place. He felt large hands take ahold of him, carrying him within their arms as they walked. Keith didn’t know where they were taking him, but he didn’t have a say in the matter. He succumbed to the drug fully, unaware of what was happening any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long. That's more my bad than Star's. We both got involved in a bang, I burned myself out, s8 happened, and ended up getting dragged into the MXTX fandom. Stuff. But we're updating this chapter! <3
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: Long time no see everyone! We've become so busy with fandom events that we're barely updating our fics ;3; If you want to see what we're up to, check out the Galtean!Klance zine we're working on! Also we're alive and working on the fic slowly.
> 
> Galtean!Klance zine: https://galteanklancezine.tumblr.com/
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	6. A Red Eye

Lance had been very hopeful when they replied to Keith’s last email. A part of him even hoped that, maybe, if he was lucky, Keith would check it before he went off to do whatever crazy and dangerous plan he had in mind. That maybe he would reply and say he’d changed his mind and wanted to meet somewhere safe.

That hope had lasted until just now, when Luxia Queen’s report was interrupted by an emergency broadcast.

“We have received breaking news regarding the wanted terrorist, Keith Kogane.” Luxia halted her regular program, eyes on the information just sent to her desk, “Kogane and his brother, the former champion, Takashi Shirogane, were spotted with several unknown individuals at the gates of The Laughing Clown.”

The news cut to a security feed from the front gates, zoomed in on a group of people huddled around a park bench. He couldn’t make out what was going on, but it looked like they were talking intensely. Two of the people were manhandling a girl on a park bench, which made Lance’s insides curl with disgust. Then one of the girls pulled something out. It wasn’t entirely clear at first, but it became obvious when another girl took it and cuffed them around a hooded guy’s wrist.

That’s when Lance was hit with the horrifying realization that _Keith_  had been handcuffed. Then something even more horrible happened, they started  _trading_  Keith for that girl. And, for a moment, the tanned boy honestly thought that whoever had helped Keith had betrayed him and sold him out; that he was watching him go back to the lab.

Then Keith reached the other guy, and it only took a second for his body to start jerking horrifically, spasming like he had no control, while dark matter gathered around him in waves and started to glow from the sheer mass of it. Then, _then_  his childhood sweetheart disappeared in a flash with one of his friends, and both reappeared at the gate.

He could see the girl’s face clearly now, along with the shocked faces of the other people gathered there. The feed cut back to Luxia, her face professional as she spoke, “Kogane was seen with assumed accompliances Matthew Holt and his younger sister Katie Holt, children of the renowned and dearly departed scientist Samuel Holt, along with Haych “Hunk” Garrett, and Shay Balmera. Kogane and company were seen doing business with the known rebel terrorist duo Rolo Watson and Nyma Merryweather.”

Lance swore that this report alone took away ten years of his life. His legs became wobbly and he found it hard to keep standing so he let himself fall down on the couch behind him. His eyes were wide open and ears sharp as he listened to the news. Holt? Uncle Sam’s children? He _had_  children?

The brunette _paled_ , shocked by the discovery of Uncle Sam’s kids but also the image of Keith in handcuffs. Oh god… They were going to take him back to the labs. He’d never see Keith again. Not unless he wanted to get himself captured again. And if both of them were together there, one of them would inevitably die.

He felt all kinds of emotions twirl within his mind but he tried to push them away in favour of taking action. He had to get to that park and find Keith. Just as he stood from the couch, the door to his room slammed open, “Lance! Did you see the news!?” Romelle ran inside, out of breath, “It’s Keith!”

“I saw it. We have to go to that park and follow the trail!” Lance stood up, passing Romelle who waited beside the door. The blonde girl followed him, keeping close.

“But how are we going to get there? Let’s be realistic, Keith will be long gone by the time we get there. The most we’ll be doing is putting ourselves in danger.” She had to be the voice of reason here, just like she usually was.

“I know.” Keith might not be there anymore but at least they could possibly get some clues to find him, “But we can’t just sit here and wait for new information. We have to take action.” Lance and Romelle tracked down the stairs, stopping when they suddenly heard Allura’s voice to their side.

“Lance! Don’t go anywhere.” She warned, coming out of the kitchen. She must have seen the news already because her face was lingering with concern and worry, “We’ll all go together.”

“What!? You condone us going?” Romelle asked in surprise, watching as Allura put on her sweater. Luckily she was already dressed for the outdoors, planning to head out and meet a fellow colleague before she caught a whiff of the news.

“It would be useful for us to scout the area.” Allura agreed, surprising the blonde girl, “We’ll go in an unmarked car. I don’t want anyone recognising me while driving by the scene of the crime. We don’t want to attract any attention so we’ll stay in the car.”

“We won’t find anything at The Laughing Clown.” Lance frowned, “But we could pick up a trail.”

“Yes.” Allura nodded, “We should hurry. I already contacted Coran. He’s waiting for us in the car.”

“Am I the only one here that thinks this is dangerous?” Romelle felt the need to point it out, “What if we’re seen?”

“Then we’ll hide. We’ve practiced this for ten years now. I’d like to think that we’re experienced enough to venture outside and not have Lance discovered by the authorities.” Allura placed her hand on Romelle’s shoulder, “I’ll be going with you. There’s no need to worry.”

“I hope you’re right.” Romelle could only pray that was true. However, she trusted Allura immensely so she was more confident going like this than any other way. She followed Lance and Allura as they made their way out and then into the car.

The three of them piled into the discreet vehicle, finishing covering themselves in fashionable scarves and sunglasses, Allura pulling her voluminous hair into a bun and hiding it beneath a sunhat. The air in the car was tense, no one said anything, and Lance couldn’t stop his leg from jumping nervously. Romelle played with her fingers, the nervous energy radiating off her in waves.

Lance wanted them to rush, to get to Laughing Clown as quickly as possible, but Coran wouldn’t do that. The mustached man obeyed the traffic laws, stopping at every stop sign and not moving past the speed limit. It made the ride feel unbearably long, horrible. He didn’t dare check the news.

Halfway there Allura finally spoke, “Remember, we need to be discreet about this. We are following the trail, so keep your eyes out and stay in the car.”

No one answered her, the air too heavy for words, they just nodded solemnly. God, how had this happened? How did things go so wrong so fast? Keith could have been caught by now for all they knew.

They  _finally_  reached the Laughing Clown, driving by the gates that towered over the large parking bay. Police cars were everywhere, sentries and policemen alike lining the road in front of the amusement park. There were several roads that they could have taken, but it was obvious which one Keith and his friends had gone down. The nearby buildings had shut down all holoscreens so that the lights of the police cars could stand out even more.

Coran pulled down that road, following the flashing lights down their path. The dive was much slower now, held back by the police and traffic. Leaving them squirming in their seats. Lance concentrated on breathing, folding his hands in front of his mouth and nose, trying to find a steady rhythm. He had to remind himself that Keith was a fighter, that Keith knew he was doing something dangerous and had a plan. And what was with Uncle Sam apparently having kids? Well, they had to be good right? They were Uncle Sam’s kids.

Soon they came upon a backed up section of the road, a ring of police cars cut off the alleyway, a few news crews surrounded it. Getting close enough to see behind the cars took forever, but when they did all Lance could see was something that looked like one of those old railway entrances, broken chains and boards scattered around it. The police were manhandling a struggling blonde woman that he recognized from the news, more police shining lights down the tunnel as a police car backed out of it.

“Oh god… Keith went to the underground.” Lance whispered in absolute horror as he eyed the entrance to everything evil in this world. The inside of that tunnel was covered with heavy shadows and Lance was absolutely sure that there was nothing but darkness the further inside anyone went. It was home to murderers, rapists, serial killers, anything bone chilling you could name, “Why would he go there?”

Allura hummed, just as worried as Lance seemed to be. She looked out the window and at the police surrounding the area. She had a hunch that they wouldn’t be willing to follow the criminals inside, “Most likely to escape the law.” She noted thoughtfully, “And it’s working. The authorities aren’t following them inside.”

“That’s clever.” Romelle gave them that, “But also incredibly dumb at the same time. What would they be doing underground?”

“Throwing themselves into danger.” Lance let out a distressed noise, as if he was an animal in pain, “I can’t believe Keith would go there. He just cut my lifespan in half.” Was this what Keith was talking about in his message? This must have been it, he was sure of it. “Keith said he was going somewhere dangerous.” Lance looked up at Allura, “But he also said that he would contact me once he’s in a safe place.” He didn’t know how he felt about waiting though. Not when he knows where Keith is right now.

“They must have a plan.” Coran chirped from the front seat, “I’m sure they wouldn’t go inside without thinking as to what they were going to do inside or where they were going to escape from. I say we should have a little faith and wait for Keith to contact us.”

“We’re really in the dark here.” Romelle frowned, pointing at the tunnel, “Quite literally.”

“Yes, but there’s nothing we can do.” As much as Allura wanted to send her guards inside, she couldn’t. It would draw attention to them and would put her people at risk, “Keith might have escaped by now. All we can do is wait for his message.”

“But what if he doesn’t answer?” Lance squeezed his hands, “What then?”

“Then we try to establish contact with the Holt family.” Allura noted carefully, “If they went into the tunnel with Keith, then I’m sure they’ll know where he went. We might have difficulties getting in contact with the two children, but could try visiting their house.”

Romelle and the rest perked up, “That’s a good idea. Way better than venturing into the underground.” As long as she didn’t have to set foot in that… place, then she would be fine.

“Alright, but all we can do for now is wait.” The district manager faced Lance, “There’s nothing more we can do at the moment.”

The brunette let out a long sigh, squeezing his hands tight. He spared a look at the tunnel, watching as the police attempted entering with a larger force, but inevitably they wouldn’t get far. He sighed, leaning against the seat, “Okay, we’ll wait. But if Keith doesn’t reply tonight then we’re going to the Holt house.”

“That’s the plan.” Allura agreed as Coran pulled the car out of the jam. It was slow but eventually he got them onto traffic free roads, taking them back to the Alteanis estate.

However, what they didn’t notice was a tall man who stood among the police in front of the tunnel’s entrance, turning around to look at the cars in the back. His red eye beeped, showing a higher concentration of dark matter within one of the vehicles. Sendak hummed, zooming in on the source to make out a human body.

His lips curved, watching that one car slowly move along the traffic and then leave.

 

* * *

 

When Adam finally got an email from Takashi he was in no way comforted.

Yes, it felt good to finally have news and hear that he and Keith had been safe the last few days, but then he heard they were going to do something incredibly dangerous and desperate; it gave him a sinking feeling. Adam prayed that whatever it was wouldn’t be too bad, that his anxiety over the situation was just blowing things out of proportion.

Then a report interrupted the news with Keith being spotted using his biotics at an amusement park, a high speed chase across the District, and then finally their getaway van driving straight into the underground. It was around that time that he realized this was much worse than he’d ever imagined.

 

* * *

 

Waking from being drugged was, unfortunately, not exactly a new experience for Keith. However, it seemed like the small immunity he’d built at the labs had faded over the last twelve years. He woke up groggy, slowly and uneasily, and heavily disoriented.

He woke up in a bed, his head resting against a pillow and clean blankets pulled up to a chin, his shoes gone. He laid there for awhile, body too heavy for movement, the very energy zapped from his bones. Even opening his eyes took more effort than it should have, and when his violet orbs finally cracked open he found himself utterly alone.

The room was dark, windowless, made of gray stone or concrete, the only lights coming from four dim orbs installed in each corner of the ceiling. He turned his head, the action taking much more effort than it should, and found the room utterly empty of any other furniture aside from the bed and a small side table. Even the floor was carpetless and bare.

He tried to sit up, but every muscle protested the action, keeping him effectively glued to the bed.

All he could do was lay there, waiting for something to happen while the lukewarm memories of what happened trinkled into his brain. The creeping horror of his situation slowly dawned on him. He was helpless, alone, locked within an unknown room, while the drug aftereffects kept him restrained to whoever had caught him.

He’d been taken, kidnapped, _in the underground_. By the time the others realized he was gone it may very well be too late. Even if they looked for him, the tunnels covered the whole city, with more twists and turns than they could imagine, a relic of times long past, and it was dark. Trying to find him here would be like trying to search the whole of France in the dark, with monsters around every corner and death hanging in the air.

There was next to no hope of rescue.

The pale boy grit his teeth, forcing his body forward, his bones screaming in protest, he was barely able to sit up. He continued to push himself though, managing to roll towards the edge of the bed before his body gave out and he tumbled downward, crashing to the floor harshly. He hissed, trying to push himself up, but froze when he heard rapid footfalls outside the room, the door flung open as someone rushed inside.

Hands grabbed him, and he struggled against them. They were huge hands, bigger than Hunk’s or Shiro’s. They felt giant against his skin, like they could easily wrap around his neck using just their middle finger and thumb. They didn’t grip his neck though, instead the hand lifted him from the ground and flipped him back onto the bed.

Now he could see the owner of those hands. The man was huge, easily the biggest Keith had ever seen, a wall of muscle visible beneath his outfit. He was also taller than anyone else Keith had met, which was concerning. His face was covered in a hood and cybernetic mask, the eyes glowed eerily in the dim room. Keith couldn’t stop a shiver. He faced a lot of people in the arena, both huge and intimidating, but something about the combination here and the helplessness of his body drove a new wave of horror through him. His body shuddered involuntarily, the unease creeping beneath his skin.

He was still alive, the horrible thought struck him, he’d been taken in the underground and he was still alive. That meant one of two things, either this man was a torturer or he was a rapist, maybe even both for all he knew. The bed and the sheer unresponsiveness of his body led him to the horrible conclusion that it was most likely the latter.

“...no…” Keith tried to squirm away, his voice was thick and raspy, throat dry and itching horribly, like he’d swallowed a dozen cotton balls. He pulled away from the stranger, slinking away, “...no..no...I’ve never…”

The huge man brushed back his hair in an almost affectionate manner and the bone chilling horror creeps up his spine slowly. It’s too much for him, way too much, so with a feral cry he unleashes a push of pure biotic energy, forcing the man off his feet and into a nearby wall with a grunt. Keith doesn’t wait for him to get up, squirming back off the bed, determined to escape the room and lose himself in the underground, hopefully he could find a hole to hide in until the drugs wore off and he could move again. No one would find him, he was miles underground in the dark.

His legs and arms were both jelly though, and the force of the push left him even more disoriented, so he had to worm his way across the floor, trying desperately to escape his bleak fate. The man stood up however, already attempting to gather him off the floor again, Keith wasn’t having any of it though, letting out another harsh cry as he forced another push to knock the man right back into the wall. The pale young boy still wriggled forward as he desperately tried to escape.

“No, no, no.” Keith repeated the word over and over, letting it fuel him. He reached the door, but he ran into another problem as he realized that he couldn’t reach the knob. Pale hands clawed against the door, scratching harshly against the thick material, trying to drag himself upward towards freedom.

He heard the figure behind him stand up again, approaching with slow steps. Keith felt his heart beat rapidly within his chest, tears in the corner of his eyes as he stared up at the man in utter horror. He felt himself shake the closer the figure got, the sheer fear prompting him to gather more of the dark matter around him.

However, just as the figure took another step forward, the door of the room opened. Keith snapped his head up, eyes wide as his body shook in fear. He felt his breath hitch as soon as he looked up, spotting an Indian man standing on the other side of the door. The man was looking down at him, and as soon as their eyes met, Keith felt a pang of familiarity wash over him.

No… Wait… This was… “Dr. Slav?” Keith asked weakly, unable to believe his own eyes. The more he looked at the man, the more he seemed like the Dr. Slav he knew twelve years ago.

“Keith! My boy!” Slav hurriedly knelt down in front of him, looking concerned, “The effects of the drug haven’t left your body yet. There’s a 98% chance that you’ll fall if you try getting up at this moment.” He helped flip Keith over so that he wasn’t lying down on the cold floor.

“Dr. Slav w-what are you doing here?” Keith asked in disbelief, still trying to let the notion that this was Dr. Slav sink in, “It’s you, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m glad you remember me Keef.” Slav smiled, using the nickname he gave Keith back at the facility. Although it might have been due to his Indian accent as well, “But unlike me, you’ve grown into a fine man. Let’s get you back to bed.” He moved to help the boy up, but when the hooded figure approached again, Keith froze.

“N-No… Get away!” He hissed, threatening to use his power against the person hidden under the hood.

“No! Wait!” Slav stopped him, trying to calm him as best he could, “He’s here to help. We mean you no harm.”

“I don’t know where I am.” Keith shook, his body limp, head resting on the stone ground. His brow was starting to sweat, his body useless now that whatever adrenaline had faded. The huge man was still approaching him, slowly, silently. All Keith could think about was dark tunnels and breaths on his neck, “I-someone grabbed me. How did-? Where’s my brother? I want my brother.”

“Keef, you need to calm down.” Slav twisted his fingers together, “There is a 63% chance that the drugs won’t leave your body for a few more hours. You need the rest. Antok is a dear friend and only wishes to help.”

The pale boy bit his lip, his stomach rolling violently. He hated this. He hated this helplessness and the sweat and the heat building beneath his skin. He’d always hated this sick feeling, ever since he was small, because it reminded him of being strapped to metal tables. God, he hadn’t felt like this since the first time he’d woken up in the Shirogane household and realized Lance was _gone_. And now it was happening all over again, he’d been _drugged again_  and _taken away from someone he loved_  with no guarantee of ever seeing them again, left to wake up alone in a strange place.

“I want my brother.” He tried again as the large man picked him up, carrying him over towards the bed and pulling back the blankets before setting him down. Keith was weightless and heavy all at once, sinking into the mattress, the blankets pulled to his chin. Still, he didn’t stop, “Please, please, I want my brother.”

“Shhh… It’s okay Keef, everything will be just fine.” Slav sat himself on the edge of the bed, reaching to touch Keith’s hand under the blanket, “Your brother isn’t here at the moment and I know you’re scared but I promise that you’re safe. Nobody will harm you here.”

But those words didn’t give Keith any comfort at all. No, they did nothing to help his panicked state, “Please.” He pleaded at this point, tears at the edges of his eyes, “Shiro. I want to see my brother.”

Slav squeezed his hand, guilt and sorrow plastered all over his face. Keith was coherent enough to notice it, and he hoped that it was this sympathy that would get him what he wanted. But when Slav shook his head, he felt himself sink into the mattress even more.

“Listen to me Keef. I need you to take long and steady breaths. In and out.” Slav tried to establish a steady rhythm which Keith could copy but even though he did that, the pale boy didn’t seem to be willing to cooperate. Steady breaths wasn’t what he needed right now, it was  _Shiro_.

“Okay.” Slav closed his eyes, steadying himself, “I’m so sorry we had to take you away from your brother like that, you must trust me, if it was up to me I’d never do it. There are a lot more people involved in this than you know. They act in the shadows, merciless in the ways they carry out their tasks if it means getting them done.” Slav’s eyes met Keith’s own, noting his distressed state.

“You’re currently in a specialised room that was made to withstand dark matter on a larger scale than any other structure. I helped build it in hopes of helping you someday.” And the day had finally come, “We’re still underground but further down than any being can venture. Only the Blades know their way around the tunnels here. The chances of anyone else getting here on their own is… 10% at the highest.”

Keith clenched his hand around the blanket, fear renewed now that he knew that he was still underground, “We’re still in the tunnels?”

“Yes, but in a deeper part.” Slav informed, voice easy and soft. He was aware of Keith’s condition so he tried to approach him in a way that… wouldn’t be as shocking. Although there was no way he would be able to achieve that. Not with the situation at hand, “Nobody will be able to find you here. You’re safe from the government, rebels or any bounty hunters that may be out there looking for you.”

Keith’s grip on the blanket tightened, “Shiro?”

“He’s not here.” Slav looked away, “But you’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” His eyes slowly returned onto the pale boy, “And now that you’re here, we may be able to help you gain stable control of your biotics. You’re in safe hands, don’t worry.”

“This is just like last time.” Keith stated miserably, unable to do more than that with his dead weight, head lolled against the pillow. “When I woke up in a strange place and never saw Lance again.”

Things went silent for a moment, tense and heavy, uncomfortable even with Slav trying his best to give him comfort. Everything was starting to fade out again, whatever adrenaline had long faded, the aftereffects of his efforts hitting him now, leaving him spent and miserable. He could feel sleep creeping in, dragging him down to that inky darkness.

“Oh Keef.” Slav sounded sympathetic at least, “It will not be this way forever. It will be better soon.”

But Keith was asleep before he even finished speaking.

 

* * *

 

Shiro got the nagging feeling something was wrong. It was a feeling he’d had ever since he’d taken his first step into the underground, though, so he’d mostly ignored it. He was the one leading the group, and he needed to focus if they were going to get out of here with their lives.

There was a close call a while back, when he heard a very loud laugh from a few feet to his left, followed by rapid footfalls as what sounded like an old woman calling for her “babies”, only for the loud squeaks of rats to sound, painful sounding things, and Shiro realized that the woman was _eating_  a rat right next to them. Luckily the group was able to hold it together until she was gone, and then he heard a whimper from Shay and maybe the sounds of throwing up. Matt certainly gagged. Still, they had to keep moving.

There were other noises the deeper they got, some talking, some whispering, a scream or two. It was nerve wracking at best, and he didn’t dare make even the smallest noise. He and Matt, as the oldest pair here, tried to keep it together, handle getting the kids out, but it was draining him. Every second down here felt like he was taking another step closer to death.

Finally catching a glimpse of light shining through the entrance was like finding the promised land at long last. Navigating up the stairs was difficult and frustrating, and he had to kick down the boarded entrance when they got there, but stepping into the sunlight felt wonderful, magical even. It was like the first breath after drowning, the first gulp of water after a long walk through the desert, so refreshing and wonderful that it left him feeling almost immortal.

“Oh thank goodness.” He heard Matt cry, “We’re alive.”

“I thought we weren’t going to make it.” Pidge sighed, stumbling past him and falling against a wall, her head flopping.

“Man, that was tough, right Keith?” Hunk turned to face his companion, only too freeze when he realized no one was behind him. Brown eyes stared back into the tunnel, dread crawling through him as he realized Keith  _wasn’t there_ , “K-Keith?”

He looked down at his arm, only to see that there were light, jelly covered, weights strapped around his arms, imitating a hand hold. It was then that Hunk’s entire stomach dropped, his insides hallowing as he turned his horrified eyes back towards the darkness.

“Keith?” Pidge and the rest turned when they didn’t hear a response, their faces slowly morphing into ones of utter horror. Their eyes flew over to the jelly weights on Hunk’s arms, leaving them frozen in place for a solid minute. They didn’t even realize they stopped breathing when it came to it, blood turning to ice within their veins.

“Keith?” Shiro pushed Matt aside to get to Hunk, grabbing the weights off the teen to examine them. His heart began to beat frantically, throwing the weights down to the ground violently. He felt his body begin to shake, and without thinking, he began fast pacing back into the tunnel.

“No! Wait!” Matt grabbed him, preventing him from going back into the darkness, “You won’t be able to find him like this! Calm down!” He tried to hold the larger man but it didn’t work. Shiro had no trouble pushing him away, as if he was nothing more than a toothpick.

“I’ll find him. I _have_  to find him.” Shiro’s voice was venomous, eyes narrowed and fists clenched as he stepped further into the tunnel. The rest of the group threw themselves at him, trying to hold him down.

“Wait Shiro! We’re all shaken but we can’t go without a plan!” Pidge tried this time, “We’re all worried and besides ourselves but we need to stay calm about this!”

“Keith isn’t here.” Shiro growled, “I need to be by his side. He must be scared and worried and…” He clenched his hands further, “How did he _disappear?”_

“We don’t know! But we have to calm down first.” Matt urged, joining the rest as they held Shiro down. Shiro struggled against them all, trying to get out of their hold. He refused to believe that Keith would just disappear like that without a trace. No, he couldn’t let Keith be alone. Not that small child that came to their house twelve years ago, so disoriented and scared.

“Please Shiro.” Pidge begged, “We’ll find him but you need to calm down first.” She pleaded, her hold on the other tightening, “Please. We all want to know what happened, so please. Let’s work together.”

Shiro felt himself deflate, falling onto his knees as the others let go of him. He broke, tears streaming down his face. He didn’t remember the last time he cried like this, or let his emotions show in front of strangers this way. Although that was the last thing he cared about at this point.

How did they manage to lose Keith? At what point did he disappear? What if he’s lost? What if he escaped his captors? How didn’t anyone notice? _How_  did this happen?

“This is the work of someone with experience.” Matt picked up the fake weights, examining them within his hands, “They knew what they were doing and did it in a way that we wouldn’t even notice.” Keith would have told them something was wrong, which meant that he didn’t even have the time to do that.

“Something tells me this wasn’t a simple beggar or a serial killer. Keith is strong enough to take them down. This is someone who knew what they were doing.” Matt noted, carefully eyeing Shiro and the rest, “They must have planned this.”

Pidge sniffed where she was, looking up at her brother. She was faring better than Shiro but she was still shaken. She swore that she would protect both Keith and Lance but she failed and she felt utterly useless because of it. Keith didn’t deserve this, any of this. How did they manage to fuck up like this? “He shouldn’t have been the last in line. If he was somewhere in the middle then this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I didn’t even notice him missing.” Hunk fidgeted nervously, shaken that _someone_  placed those fake weights onto his arm, “I didn’t even _feel_  anything.”

“They knew what they were doing.” Matt stressed, remaining as calm as he can be, “I doubt we could have stopped them even if Keith was in the middle or the front.”

“You don’t know that.” Pidge hissed, “We would have known if he was in front of one of us!”

“Pidge, calm down.” Matt placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her, “We need to remain calm. Fighting amongst ourselves won’t help us find him.”

“Fuck that! Keith is missing, and he went missing _underground_. You heard what kind of people are in there! What would dad say if he knew about this!? He’d be terrified we let something like this happen! Wait! You know what, it’s not Shiro’s, Hunk’s, or Keith’s fault this happened! It’s us! We fucked up!” Pidge yelled from the bottom of her lungs, revved up.

“There was nothing we could have done.” Matt tried, “The underground was our best bet at getting away from police. You know what would have happened if they got us instead.”

“Fuck this! For all we know, the government took him!” Pidge stressed, not helping poor Shiro who was already besides himself on the ground.

“Pidge… I’m sure it wasn’t the government.” Hunk tried, “If it was, there would have been flashlights, police officers and sentries. None of them were there.”

“Then who the fuck was it? Ninjas? Shadow people?” The girl turned, hiding away from the rest.

“We have to find him.” Shiro muttered from where he knelt on the ground, “We can’t leave him alone like that in the tunnels.”

“We don’t know if he’s still there.” Matt tried to reason, “For all we know they could have taken him somewhere else. All we can do is follow the clues we have.”

“And what’s that Matt?” Pidge asked, Hunk and Shay turned to the older Holt sibling as well. The weight of the situation was hard to bear but someone had to keep a cool mind. Matt tried to clear his head, thinking of what they could do in a situation like this.

“The ones who took Keith are most likely not random killers or rapists. I’d even go as far and say that they targeted him knowing exactly what he was.” Matt leaned his hand against his chin, “This is a professional kidnapping, carried out by years of experience.” There was no way it would have been as efficient if that person or people weren’t experienced. “I think they might have aimed for Keith from the moment they spotted us, or even before that.”

“You don’t know any of that.” Pidge hissed, “All you’re doing is guessing.”

“But that’s all we have to go on at this point.” Matt approached calmly, “Considering the way Keith was taken, I’d say they knew what they were doing. At this point, everyone knows Keith is a terrorist, and we don’t know who they’re working for or if they’re independent.” Those people might have been working for the government as a specialised branch but Matt didn’t want to say that, “We won’t be able to find Keith if we go back into the tunnels.”

“Then what do we do?” Hunk was the one who asked this time.

Matt closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. They didn’t know where Keith might be, but they had the location of someone who might help them, “I think the best course of action we could take is to go and find Allura. If those people know who Keith is, or if they’re related to the government, having Lance with us will help us get in contact with those people. It’s likely that they’ll try contacting him rather than us.”

“Is that all we can do?” Hunk asked, looking back towards the underground and Shiro’s withered and huddled form. A few feet away Shay stood, her hands cupped over her mouth and her eyes locked onto the entrance as well. The Samoan moved closer, wrapping his arms around her in a show of comfort.

“If you’ve got an option that _isn’t_  making a mad dash through hundreds of miles of dark tunnels and shaking down everyone we run into than I’d love to hear it.” Matt crossed his arms, eyeing them all, “But if you don’t then our best bet is to go ahead and contact Allura as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more uncertain it is we’ll be there when Lance is contacted.”

Shiro was useless right now and Hunk was busy trying to comfort his shaken girlfriend, so it was up to Pidge to finally agree with her brother, no matter how bitter she felt about it. The girl huffed, pulling up her emails, wincing when she saw that there was a response to Keith’s last message. She bit her lip, “Looks like we got a response just before our trade off.”

“Greeeatttt.” Matt deflated, “We better listen to what they had to say before we respond.”

Pidge opened the email, finding nothing but an audio file, much like the email they’d sent. She played it, hearing Lance and one or two others speak as they tried to convince Keith to set up a meeting on Blue Street instead of going through with whatever plan he’d had before. She couldn't help but flinch a bit, her stomach rolling as she hissed, “Ohhhhhh.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Matt stated, his own face screwed with discomfort. He sighed, looking resigned, “Pidge, we’ve gotta tell them. We can’t just meet them without Keith.”

Pidge nodded, her own face twisted as she tapped at her emails, pulling up her recorder before speaking, “This is Katie Holt, daughter of Samuel Holt and friend of Keith Kogane. As of this moment we have escaped the underground with five of our six person party. Keith Kogane was lost at an unknown point during our journey. We have no clue what happened as there was no indication from him that he was attacked and whomever took him was clever, they placed weights around the arm of the person connecting him in the line. As of now we cannot know if he’s lost in the underground or if he was transported out. However, we believe that whomever took him may be professionals that will attempt contact with Lance. We request a meeting to further discuss a plan to find and/or possibly rescue him. As proof of our legitimacy we have his older brother, Takashi Shirogane, present.”

For good emphasis Pidge took a picture of Shiro’s still slumped and teary form, attaching it to the email before sending it off. “Now all we can do is wait.”

 

* * *

 

A red eye focused on the large source of dark matter that was in front, collecting around one singular person within the vehicle. No person he’d ever seen had dark matter around them like this, that is apart from two test subjects he’d seen twelve years ago. He’d just started serving Zarkon back them, loyal enough to gain his trust with information on that particular project.

Sendak had never met the two experiments up close before, but he’d seen them from afar. His red eye focused on the anomaly as soon as it spotted them, and back then he was astonished. Dark matter was always present around everyone and yet nobody had any means of using its power just yet. That changed with the two experiments, and from that day onward, Sendak could never mistake their signatures.

One of the experiments was within the car they were following, and it brought him joy to think that soon he’ll get his hands on one of them. He’ll present him to Zarkon, and finally after all these years, they’ll be able to uncover the secrets of the biotics which were lost to them.

Soon, they’d have one of the experiments within their hands.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Lance and the rest made their way back to the Alteanis estate, Lance found himself back in his bedroom, throwing himself on his bed. He let out a loud distressed noise, burying his head into the pillow.

He’d been so hopeful about meeting Keith that morning ever since he got the reply, but now? He felt dread coursing through his veins, as anxious as ever. He let out another noise, sounding like a wounded animal.

“Why’d you have to go to the underground Keith?” Lance whined, sighing heavily before pulling on his bracelet. The holoscreen came up, showing the email he’d seen before all _this_  happened. Seeing the reply made Lance’s insides warm and he felt himself blush a tad. He felt like a girl reading a message sent by her crush, only he felt giddy _and_  furious.

When Keith sends a reply, and Lance knows he _will_ , he’ll talk his ears off about how dumb the idea was. He didn’t know if there was another way for… whatever Keith and the rest wanted to do, but Lance would still scold him about it.

Sure they were practically strangers, and it will be awkward meeting for the first time, but it still doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t tell Keith off. Keith would always be Keith, no matter how long it has been. Yep, he’s definitely getting scolded.

Lance sighed, rolling over to his front. He closed the picture and opened the audio file. He let Keith’s voice fill the silence of his room, closing his eyes as he listened to that deep voice. He tried to imagine Keith in the room, as if he was there talking to him.

It gnawed away at him that they had been so close back at the arena and yet they hadn’t managed to meet. Fate was against them for the past twelve years but now all of that would change. They’ll meet and he’ll make sure of it.

He heard the door to his room open, looking up and then letting out a yelp when Romelle jumped on top of him, “If you think I’ll leave you here by yourself to cry then you got another thing coming! Get up! We’re all watching the news in the living room before Keith replies! Come on now, get up!” She pulled on his hand, urging him to move.

“Leave me alone to wallow in my own misery.” Lance complained even as he let the girl pull him away from the bed and towards the door. He managed to kick off his shoes at some point, so now he was sliding across the polished floor, Romelle’s arm locked firmly around his own and dragged him. He lets his body go limp, just to be a shit.

As promised Allura and Coran were already settled in the living room. Allura was seated on the throne like couch, with various pillows surrounding her as she kept occupied by watching the news. Her cybernetic legs were draped across the pillows, the blue and pink design standing out against the white material. Coran must have anticipated how Lance’s mood would be, because he set down a tray of coffee cups, three of which must have been hot chocolate if the amount of whip cream puffing out over the top was anything to go by.

“Thank you Coran.” Allura nodded as she took the only non-whip cream filled cup from his tray. Her hands are flesh, unlike her legs, and she has to take the cup gently.

“No problem princess!” Coran beamed, settling himself into the couch.

Lance found himself tossed beside Coran, landing on the cushions and sinking in before Romelle sat daintily on the other side, grabbing her own cup of hot cocoa and holding by the handle.

“Oh, hello Lance my boy!” Coran greeted cheerily, waving his hand, indicating towards his hot cocoa, “I thought you could use a pick me up!”

Lance found a cup pushed into his hands, the cup still burning hot. He winced a bit, moving to hold the cup by the handle and waving his hand lightly to rid it of the small stinging. He tried to smile at Coran, to thank him, but he doesn’t think it quite reached his eyes. He tries to say something, he does, but he doesn’t feel up to it. The older man seems to understand though, and just pats his head before turning to face the holoscreen.

On the screen the press had the underground entrance surrounded. The police could be seen in the background trying to seal up the entrance again, this time with a metal door. It looked flimsy though, and it wouldn’t stop another van from getting through. Though they couldn’t exactly seal it up with concrete if there were people down there, especially Keith.

Rolo and Nyma had been arrested a while ago, from what Lance understood, and were due for interrogation, but he somehow doubted they actually know anything. There probably wasn’t any way to find any information now. There were dozens of entrances to the underground, spreading over the whole city, and there was no way to know for sure which one Keith would turn up around, or when. And that was being hopeful, because people didn’t tend to come out of the underground at all.

The idea that Keith may never come back scared him and gave him more anxiety than he already had. He had the urge to play with the hem of his shirt but couldn’t do it with the cup in his hand. Instead he blew on the hot drink, trying to cool it before taking a sip. Hot chocolate always melted away his worries but this time it did little to help. Although it was the thought that counted, and Lance appreciated it very much.

“I’m suppose to meet with Lotor at his estate today.” Allura hummed, “It would benefit us, but I’m unsure with this new development we have on our hands.”

“That’s tough.” Romelle agreed, taking a sip of her own cup, “You should go. We can still get some valuable information from the guy. We’ll be on the lookout here if anything happens.” All they could do was wait for Keith’s email anyway.

“I don’t know.” But Allura was hesitant, “What if he agrees to meet up? I’d like to be present as well when we meet them all. It’s a moment I’ve been waiting for a long time now.”

“If Keith agrees to meet up then I’ll go.” Lance tilted his head over to her, “We could come pick you up if he replies. I’m sure Lotor wouldn’t mind us crashing the party.”

Those words put a smile on Allura’s face, “You’re right.” She agreed, sipping on her coffee, “Then I’ll count on you to let me know when he replies.”

“Of course.” Lance focused back on the screen, worriedly gripping his mug tighter. If it was Keith’s aim to worry him then he succeeded because Lance was sweating tears of pure anxiety. He must have known Lance would see this on the news. Did he even consider it?

That dumb dork must have forgotten about it, or maybe they didn’t count on the ensuing chaos. That must be the case, right? Otherwise he would have told him that he was going to the underground. Keith should have been more specific in his message because what he said didn’t help Lance calm down at all.

The only thing he could do right now was pray for that reply to come.

A sudden knock on the door startled them all, tilting their heads to face the door as it opened. Hira emerged on the other side, the head guard ever professional, “Mrs. Alteanis you have a visitor. Mr. Sendak is waiting for you and is requesting permission to enter.”

The mention of the name sent chills down their spines. Sendak? Here? Allura didn’t even try to compose herself when she asked, “And would you know the reason for his visit?”

“He didn’t say.” Hira shook her head, “He merely requested to meet you and permission to enter the house.”

“A-Alright.” Allura stood up from her seat while Lance, Coran and Romelle made a run for it. “I’ll meet him at the entrance.” The District Manager eyed the three as they entered her office, aiming to hide in the secret room they built years ago. Once they disappeared out of her sight, Allura made her way downstairs to meet the man.

Her steps were slow and careful, spotting the man standing where he was suppose to be. She took a deep breath as their eyes met, Sendak faced her with a neutral expression, “Mrs. Alteanis it is a pleasure to meet you. I apologise for coming here unexpectedly.”

“It’s quite alright.” Allura spoke, reaching the bottom to stand next to the man, “What is the purpose of your visit?”

She noticed Sendak’s eye zero in on her, then moving to look up the stairs. She felt a strange sensation wash over her as the man’s gaze returned to her figure, “I have permission from the president himself to search the property.” He pulled up his holoscreen, showing the document, “We have suspicions that a dangerous criminal is hiding within your estate.”

Allura froze in place. She felt a wave of horror pass through her but no matter how shocked she was, she couldn’t let it show, “You’re not going anywhere until I read the document.” She stated firmly, “I need to know all of the conditions of what it says.”

“That is fine with me.” Sendak pressed a button, sending the document to Allura’s bracelet. The device made a noise, indicating a new message. Allura opened the item and true to his word, the same document was now on her screen, “If you excuse me now, I’ll be looking around your mansion.”

“No.” Allura remained firm, stepping in his way, “Not until I read the document.”

“You’ll take your time reading it while I help myself and look around.” But Sendak was just as firm, looking down at her with narrowed eyes, “Resisting the order may result in a prison sentence, even for someone like you Mrs. Alteanis.”

“I am not resisting the order Mr. Sendak.” Allura stated firmly, her fists finding their way to her hips and her eyes narrowing. She squared her shoulders, standing up to the man, “I am simply thoroughly checking the order to see just how much power the president has given in this situation. I won’t have you invade my privacy any more than necessary.”

“Such little trust for an officer.” Sendak’s one good eye narrowed, “One would almost think you have no respect for my office.”

“It is not a matter of respect, it is the principle of the matter.” Allura frowned deeply, her hands still on her hips, the two of them locked in a standoff. With hope Lance had hidden himself by now, or gotten out of the house, because this was a losing battle if the expression the man was wearing indicated anything. Still, she wasn’t simply going to let this beast invade her home, “I am a thorough woman, I will not let you enter before the order is properly read. Who do you take me for?”

“A suspect.” Sendak answered her, stepping forward, trying to tower over her. He pointed at her, like he was planning on poking her chest, but just barely refrained, “And your reluctance to let me enter the premises makes me suspicious. What are you hiding Ms. District Manager?”

“It is not a matter of hiding something, it is a matter of respect and human decency.” Allura spat, glaring at the man, “If you think I’ll let you trample around my home like a brute before I’ve even read the terms of your search than you are mad. You’ll let me read this, as a show of basic decency, and only then will you search my home.”

She wouldn’t be able to hold him off much longer, she really was the one with a lot more to lose in this situation. Her only hope was that Coran and Romelle had gotten Lance far away by now. And that Sendak wouldn’t find anything he considered suspicious. If all went wrong then it would be up to her cybernetic legs to help her escape.

“Are you done yet?” Sendak asked, staring down at her with a narrowed eye, his red mechanical eye zooming in on her, “I don’t have the time to waste waiting for you to read this Mrs. Alteanis. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll help myself to the rooms.”

“You can’t leave yet.” Allura hissed, moving to stand before him, “I’m not done inspecting this document.”

“You don’t have to be.” And just as she feared, she knew that she couldn’t hold him here any longer, “If you have any complaints then take it to the president himself. I have a task to do. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He moved around her, following the trace of dark matter as he made his way up the stairs.

Allura tensed, quickly following behind him, “I won’t stand for this rudeness.” She tried to buy as much time as she could but Sendak decided to ignore her altogether. “You’ll definitely hear from me. I’ll have you demoted.” She threatened but even that fell on deaf ears.

Sendak focused on his red eye, following a trail of dark matter that led him from the outside into the house, and then up the stairs. There was more of it the further he went, indicating that the source was nearby.

He made it up, arriving to a room that seemed to be the living room. Standing in place, Sendak looked around, following the trail up to a door. He walked up to it, opening it with a thud without even bothering to knock.

His loud entrance startled a single occupant of the room that was there. Coran jumped up, ready to fight if need be. He blinked when he noticed Sendak’s large form, baffled as to how the man made it up here, “O-Oh! Y-You’ve startled me! What are you doing here!”

“Coran!” Allura appeared at the door as well, eyes flying over the room. She sighed in relief when she didn’t see Lance anywhere, thanking the heavens for this bit of luck. Perhaps Lance really managed to get away. She bought enough time so he must have.

“Allura, what is he-” Coran paused when Sendak began moving again, rudely opening the closet off to the side, focusing on the concentrated dark matter inside. It was lingering within, as if the source had recently been inside before moving to another location.

The man moved away, instead focusing his attention to a bookshelf behind Allura’s office desk. Allura herself got in his way again, enraged by his actions, “I don’t know what the document states but I’m sure looking through my personal items or books has nothing to do with it.”

“I’m allowed to look at what I please.” Sendak didn’t even bother glancing at her, focusing on the bookshelf. He felt that there was something more to it, seeing the dark matter trail beyond it as if there was a space between the wall. He moved his hand, knocking every single one of the books down so that the shelf was left empty.

“How dare you!?” Allura yelled, but she was too late, Sendak had already managed to find the dummy book when he knocked everything over. He pulled on the single book that remained as the bookshelf opened like a door, revealing a pathway within.

“I see that you’re hiding secrets Mrs. Alteanis. One who has nothing to hide wouldn’t have a passageway like this in their office.” Sendak mused but didn’t say anything else in favour of exploring further inside. He entered, going down the stairs. His pathway was lit up by lights and luckily it didn’t take him long to find an exit.

The stairs led to a dead end. He pushed the wall open just like he did with the bookshelf. He was outside, in the garden of the estate. His red eye focused further into the garden, following the trail further.

“You won’t find anything here.” Allura insisted, she and Coran having followed him down. “That is only an emergency exit.”

Sendak didn’t stop to look at her, making his way into the many bushes, trees and flowers. He followed the trail to a fountain, spotting a blonde girl standing beside it. She seemed to be shocked as soon as she saw him, eyes wide before retreating back into her original position. “W-Who are you? What are you doing here?” She asked before she spotted Allura fast pacing behind the man, trying to keep up, “Allura! Who is this?”

“An uninvited guest.” The manager hissed, “You have no business here. Didn’t you request to search the house? Why are you in the garden then!?”

Sendak decided to ignore her once again, focusing his sights on the fountain instead. He saw the concentration of dark matter that was there, meaning that the source was hidden within it. He moved his mechanical arm, aiming to destroy the fountain altogether. “No, wait!” But that’s when Romelle threw herself at him, preventing him from doing anything, “You can’t go around destroying stuff!”

“Out of my way.” He hissed, ignoring her and throwing her off him. Allura caught her before hurriedly jumping over to Sendak, managing to prevent him from landing a hit.

“You will not destroy my property.” She glared at him in fury, the man uncaring as he faced her.

“As I said, I’ll do what I please.” Sendak managed to throw her to the side, then quickly swung his arm at the fountain. The structure cracked and as it was crumbling away, he noticed someone appear from within the middle. A boy came out as soon as the fountain’s middle was smashed, stumbling out of his hiding spot.

The boy yelped in pain as Sendak’s red eye narrowed on him. His lips curved as soon as he saw the boy, recognising him as the source he’d been looking for. “I knew you were hiding a little something Mrs. Alteanis.” Sendak mused, “And it seems to be none other than Remus himself.” He didn’t waste any time to attack, throwing himself at Lance who sped in fright as soon as he saw the man, jumping out of the way as pieces of the fountain were sent flying into the air.

“No!” Allura moved, running to kick at Sendak, managing to knock him to the ground while Lance recovered. At this point their cover was blown, which meant that they were all wanted fugitives. The government _knew_  about Lance, just as much as they knew about Keith.

For Allura, it meant a lot of different things. She doubted that she’d be able to maintain her position as a district manager but it wasn’t one of the things she was worried about at the moment. “Lance! Run!” She yelled before Sendak grabbed her leg, throwing her into a statue on the side.

“Allura!” Lance’s eyes widened, moving to run and help Allura up. However, no matter what he wanted to do he didn’t have the time, when Sendak’s huge arm suddenly knocked him down onto the ground. He let out a pained cry as the arm squeezed, knocking the breath from his lungs.

“I’ve been waiting years for this day Remus. The president himself has been awaiting the day he would see you again as well.” Sendak’s grin only widened, looking down at him in delight, “There’s no need to worry. I’ll bring you back home, to the place you belong.”

“Fuck off.” Lance hissed, willing his biometrics to push Sendak away. However, as he focused on getting the other off, he was surprised to find out that nothing was happening. “W-Wha-”

“I’m not foolish enough to come unprepared.” Sendak pushed him further into the ground, knocking the air out of him again, “Honerva has been hard at work perfecting the ways we’d be able to fight against your biotics. This arm is the product of that technology and years of hard work.”

Lance felt himself shake at this point, horrified by the man in front of him. What he saw wasn’t Sendak but rather the labs. This was it, he was going to get caught and everything would be over. He wasn’t a fighter, not like Keith. All he knew was how to handle guns, but he didn’t have one at this moment.

Tears appeared at the edges of his eyes as Lance held onto Sendak’s arm, trying to get the man off him as best he could. Keith’s face flashed in front of him, and he heard the tune of his locket. He thought about it even as Sendak pushed harder, and used his other hand to take out a syringe of clear liquid.

Lance’s eyes widened when he saw the man take off the safety, aiming to inject it into him. “Sleep. This will all be over very soon.” He felt fear course throughout his entire body, dark matter building within him out of sheer fear alone.

He focused on Sendak’s arm, and then out of sheer instinct alone, he released everything onto the arm. He closed his eyes but heard a loud scream from the man, then he felt the pressure disappear, letting go of him instantly.

Blue eyes quickly opened again, breathing heavily as he looked up again. He saw Sendak close to him, his arm partially gone, as if it was cut off. There were no signs of any major damage, but it was as if part of the arm had merely disappeared.

Sendak yelled out again, panting heavily as he held onto the remainder of his arm. Romelle, Allura and Coran were off to the side, staring with wide eyes at what was left of the arm. Sendak hissed, eyes moving down at Lance, “You monster.”

Lance felt himself tremble, looking at his hands and feeling dark matter still around him. He’d released most of it, but some was still lingering and he felt every bit of it. He turned to Romelle whose eyes were equally wide, visibly shaken, “R-Romelle?” He took a step forward but it made the girl flinch, making him stop in his advance.

He could see the fear in Romelle’s eyes, and it pierced him much more than he ever thought anything would. How could she not be afraid? He destroyed a part of an electronic arm just like that. He really was a monster, born and raised in the labs. He-

“Hurry!” He felt Allura pick him up, throwing him across her shoulder before making a run for it, “Coran! Grab Romelle!” She commanded, not wasting the time to run to their car. Coran obeyed her wishes, picking up Romelle and carrying her over as they all ran away.

Sendak clenched his jaw, trying to pursue but without his arm, it was more than difficult to do. “Hira! Start up the car! We’re leaving!” Allura told her trusted head guard through the comms, the other receiving the message as they all made their way out of the garden.

Losing the arm didn’t help slow Sendak down too much, but it did them a slight advantage. Allura and Coran both knew the gardens far better than Sendak, the two weaved past statues and locked gates behind them as they fled. Sendak’s eye was still intact, but the lack of arm made it harder for him to break through the defenses like he had before.

By now mass confusion had spread through the compound, the guards all running wild as they frantically tried to figure out what was going on and what to do. Allura ignored various shouts for instruction, focusing firmly on finding Hira.

Her cybernetic legs gave her a sizable advantage over Sendak, giving her speed that simply wasn’t possible for those who did not have similar cybernetics. They pounded the ground, leaving dust trails behind as she sped off. Coran had cybernetic legs of his own, albeit hidden by his clothes, and had been to instill the idea of their practicality to her in the first place. With the extra boost in power the two augmented runners escaped the gardens, speeding towards the cars.

Hira and her men had several cars ready for their escape. They had protocols for this, though Allura dreaded the fact that she had to use them at all. Still, she didn't have a choice, she forced her legs to stop, and slid towards the door, throwing it open and slinging Lance inside. She raced towards the front, taking the driver’s seat. Coran launched himself into the car with Romelle, not bothering to stop at all. As soon as the door closed behind them Allura floored it, speeding out of the driveway with a lurch.

The other guards loyal to her took their own cars, speeding out of the driveway as well, separating as soon as they hit the highway. Allura didn’t bother with traffic laws at the moment, speeding past various cars, weaving and dodging professionally. She wasn’t going to risk waiting for Sendak, not now that her cover was blown. It would take mere moments for Sendak to contact Zarkon and have a warrant put out for her.

She needed to figure out where to go.

Most of her usual contacts would be off the table now, and there would be little she could do once she was declared a fugitive. They had to go somewhere though, to get off the road if nothing else. They couldn’t stay in the car forever.

She had no less than three possible safe houses and four possible hideouts occupied by potential allies planned for this circumstance, but the ease with which Sendak had tracked Lance bothered her, made her wary at the idea of going to them. The man had something, some piece of new technology that helped him find Lance. The idea was horrifying, she could only hope that the trail didn’t last long.

Unfortunately she didn’t have time to drive around and try to shake them off, she needed to get off the road before police or sentries spotted her.

She had to get away so that they could recover from this. Somewhere the government would least expect to find them. Allura clenched the wheel in her hands, only one place coming to mind.

Lotor.

He’d offered to help her before, and while his view on biotics was… uncertain, she deemed him safe enough to trust. Lotor didn’t see eye to eye with his father, and never has been on good terms with him. Zarkon would never expect to find one of the biotics with his own son, it would be a perfect place for them to hide.

Allura slammed on the gas, switching on the cloaking of their car so that they wouldn’t be seen. Hopefully whatever technology Sendak had wouldn’t allow him to see them like this, or follow them to their new hideout.

And as they drove, none of them noticed the quiet beep, that indicated they received a new message.

 

* * *

 

“Follow them! I want Allura Alteanis and everyone in that car in cuffs!” Sendak barked out, clenching his jaw in frustration as he made his way to the front, watching as cars left to follow the fleeing car.

Before he joined the pursuit, Sendak activated his bracelet, contacting Zarkon himself, “Sire, I located Remus but he managed to get away. We’re currently still in pursuit of both him and Allura Alteanis whom he fled with.”

“Get moving then.” Zarkon’s voice was low, “I want that biotic within my possession immediately.”

“Yes sire.” The connection was cut, Sendak fast paced towards a free car he spotted to the side. He got inside, barking out more orders before they sped off down the road. He could see some of the dark matter scattered around but unlike before, it was scattered everywhere. It was most likely due to the power Remus used to get rid of his arm. He couldn’t track them anymore like that.

Sendak cursed, not giving up the chase and following whatever way he thought they went. He kept in contact with the rest of his men as well as the Sentries, looking around for the escaped criminals.

 

* * *

 

Lotor was used to plans going awry. While he preferred his plans to stay on course, and they did more often than not, he was certainly no stranger to improvising on the spot. He liked to think he was clever enough to deal with any unexpected hitch in his plans and turn it in his favor.

That said, He hadn’t expected a warrant to be put out for Allura’s arrest.

The man nearly dropped his teacup when he saw the alert, he certainly spilled more than half the liquid. Once he’d gathered himself and eased out of his shock new plans started to form. His search for Kogane was promptly put on hold as he made plans to find the woman and get her away from the public eye. He’d need to track her before his father found her, find some reliable jammers, hide her.

He shook his head, steeling himself, reading over the warrant before he finished making his plans. Allura’s warrant was for treachery, aiding and abetting a known terrorist, evading the law, and suspicion of terrorist activity.

Lotor frowned deeply. Had Allura taken his information and began hunting down the experiments herself? She was a compassionate woman, one that would want to help them, it was something that he normally admired about her. However, it would seem that she likely decided to look for Kogane and Remus herself before she decided whether or not she would help him. What’s more, she must have succeeded in finding one of them.

He frowned. It seemed he’d made a mistake giving her time to think over her alliance with him. She’d taken the time to hunt the biotics down herself and gotten caught. Lotor should have insisted on the alliance more, or at least put her off the idea of finding them. Though, to be fair to himself, he hadn’t expected her to find either biotic so soon, much less convince one to speak with her or enter her home.

Looks like he had to adjust his plans to accommodate not only the two biotics, but Allura and her entourage. He had a special facility built beneath his home, hidden and safe if albeit hastily done. It certainly wouldn’t have the accommodations a woman of Allura’s caliber deserved, but it would have to do until he could get something better set up. For now, they had to be content with safe rooms that kept them from being found.

He had to find her.

Lotor stood up from his seat quickly, walking to the door before making his way outside. He passed by the maids, as well as the guards that were positioned around his estate.

He made his way further down into his security room, spotting his generals inside. “We’re going out.” He announced without any prior warning, “We need to find Allura.”

“So you heard the news?” Ezor asked, stretching her arms up, “Are we going out to save our princess?”

“She is no princess.” Lotor eyed her, “She is nothing below a queen. But yes, we are going to look for her.”

“Where should we start looking?” Acxa stood up from her seat, concentrated on the task at hand. Lotor hummed in thought, aware that without a plan or a proper clue as to where she was would get them nowhere, “I’ll-” He was interrupted when his bracelet suddenly beeped, indicating an incoming phone call.

His eyes widened as soon as he saw the caller ID. It was Allura.

He picked up before he even thought about it, scrambling to answer. When he did, a holoscreen of Allura popped up, “Allura?”

“Lotor!” The woman yelled in a rather panicked voice, taking Lotor aback, “Are you aware of what’s happening?”

“Yes. I saw the news.” Lotor tightened his wrist, “What’s happening?”

“There’s no time to explain. We’re trying to escape the police but we’ll need some place to hide. I… I need your help.” She sounded desperate and Lotor could tell. He heard the slight sounds of sirens and then what he imagined was Allura trying to maneuver her car around other vehicles.

“Where are you right now Allura?” Lotor kept his face as neutral as he could given the circumstances. The sirens were getting louder now, and all he could see was the woman's face. There were other voices in the background, and he could vaguely see flashes of different hair colors in the rear seat behind Allura. One of them was most certainly Coran Smythe, her butler of a sort, and one of the others most certainly must have been Remus, seeing as Kogane was deep in the underground right now.

“I’m on the highway, there are police everywhere.” Allura spoke hurriedly, her car obviously swerving, the sounds of sirens still heavy in the air. “I have a cloaking device, but it won’t take long for them to realize I’m using one. My other guards can only distract them for so long.”

“Then we must act fast.” Lotor nodded, hand going to his chin, “Head to my mansion, I’ll keep the gates open. I have safe rooms you can hide in under the house. My generals will dispose of the car.”

Allura didn’t question the plan, which was telling of itself, she just nodded and drove. Her car swerved, sending her hair flying and several voices saying something that was gambled and lost in the chaos. Lotor ignored it though, focusing on getting her off the road. He leaned his hands against his desk staring down the screen. Around him his generals were already moving, set on making sure the gates were ready for Allura’s arrival and that the safe rooms were set up for his unexpected guests.

“Give me a rundown on your situation Allura.” Lotor commanded, already pulling up a second holoscreen to start giving commands to the staff to retreat to their rooms for the day. He had jammers ready for when she got here, which would hopefully be soon.

“Your father gave Sendak permission to invade my home and destroy my property.” Allura glared, seemingly at the road, “He found me keeping one of the biotics, Lance, hidden. We escaped, but now I’m a traitor.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure no one can find you.” Lotor replied, “How many of you are in the car?”

“There are four of us.” Allura replied.

“Then we’ll need four jammers and four rooms beneath the house.” Lotor punched in the orders to Narti, “The rooms are made to conceal high concentrations of element zero, so as long as you can remain hidden getting here then you should be safe.”

“We’ll be at your estate shortly.” Allura supplied, making a sharp left turn to get off the highway and onto emptier roads. Lotor lived in a less frequented neighbourhood which helped their case as well, “Almost there.”

“I’ll let my generals know you’re nearby.” Lotor sent them all a message, each of them getting to work. He could still hear sirens on the other side but compared to before, there seemed to be fewer of them in number.

Lotor quickly made his way out, his two holoscreens still switched on as he walked out to the front to greet the newly wanted traitors of the government. He spotted Allura’s car as its cloaking disappeared, and came to a stop in front of the mansion.

The driver’s door immediately opened, revealing a panicked Allura on the other side. “Lotor! Quick! We don’t have much time!”

“Of course.” The president’s son eyed his generals who warily surrounded the car as the rest of its occupants got out. They pointed their guns at Lance when he appeared, keeping a close eye on him. There was no saying that Allura wasn’t pleased by the treatment.

“What are you doing!?” She approached him, glaring holes into his head, “Lance isn’t a danger. Let us hide and then I’ll explain everything.”

“I’m sorry Allura but I have to be wary with a biotic.” Lotor’s eyes moved onto the visibly stressed brunette, “He is an uncontrollable force.”

“He’s my family and you’ll let him in, otherwise your father will find all of us!” Allura urged, and Lotor agreed with her way of thinking. First they had to hide, then talk.

“Quick. Get inside.” He helped his unexpected guests come in while Zethrid and Ezor worked on destroying the car. Acxa followed the group with Lotor, keeping a close eye on Lance as he supported himself on Coran’s side.

The trek inside was silent, the other servants and guards having retreated as per Lotor’s order. The entrance to the underground safe room had only two different entrances, one in his office and the other in the library. His library was closer so he lead them there.

Allura and her party followed silently, and Acxa kept an ever sharp eye on the biotic. There was clearly much more to the story than Allura was sharing, but Lotor refused to lower this guard. People had been hospitalized already and he wasn’t just going to forget that for Allura’s convenience. They reached the library fairly quickly. He studied the room a bit, making sure no servants fled there, before he deemed it safe and pulled on a hidden lever recently installed behind a painting, a small scan studying his fingerprints before one of the shelves opened to reveal a long hallway. He lead them along, the artificial lighting coming to life as they worked their way downwards.

The saferooms lit up once they reached it, each one powering up and showing off their features. There were ten rooms and they didn’t allow for privacy. Each room was lined against metal walls, one glass wall facing the entrance hall in each one.There were metal doorways next to each one, smaller halls beyond that lead to the doorways entering the rooms on the backmost metal walls.

Each room had something different in them. Two were bedrooms, with king-sized beds and different, rounded, furniture. Mostly these bedrooms seemed to have soft sitting places and a station to summon a holoscreen. There did seem to be thought put into the rooms however, with both being coded red and blue respectively, and different accessories deemed safe enough for the rooms.

The other rooms weren’t bedrooms at all. Each room seemed to have been designed for a very specific purpose. One seemed to be purposely arranged to resemble a therapist’s office, set up with clean couches and a purposely calming decor. Another seemed like a medical room. Another was a small library of sorts, overstuffed with paperback books of all kinds, a record player set up on a bolted down table with bolted down chairs. Another room was completely empty, nothing but metal walls and a door. Another was lined with holoscreens and cameras. The last seemed to be an indoor garden, full of flowers and ground fruits growing under artificial lights. This room was the largest, and the most full, with even a tree growing in the corner and a swing hanging from a branch.

“Lotor…” Allura’s eyes were wide as she turned towards the man, “What _is_  this?”

“I was not kidding when I said I was determined to find both Kogane and…” He side-eyed the brunette still slumped against Coran’s shoulder, mindful enough to realize what situation he was in, “...Lance, you said? Lance.”

“But what _is_  this?” The blonde girl looked around, wide eyed.

“I was determined to hide both Kogane and...Lance...however long I had to, but I also wanted to study and observe their biotics.” Lotor clapped his hands, and the glass walls to the rooms suddenly went pitch black. Then he clapped again and they lit back up, “I built the rooms to resist three times the estimated strength of their biotics. It was very expensive. Furthermore, the glass has been built with inner sensors for the sake of privacy when it is deemed necessary.”

Lotor stepped forward walking past the therapist office, “Furthermore, I considered every psychological need. I went through every note and observation I could find to discover what would be needed to keep both Kogane and Lance in relative comfort. I looked into what little of Kogane’s tastes he shared online and arranged his own room accordingly. I had no idea of Lance previously, so his room is simply another version of Kogane’s own, with a different color variation also based on his tastes.”

Lotor moved towards the empty room, “This room was built for the both of them to freely use their biotic abilities without fear of my father tracking them. This room was made with far stronger metal and glass than any of the other rooms.”

Lotor pointed towards the doors to the left of every room, “I built these doors with the same intent. They lead to the back halls where Kogane and Lance would have free access to every room. When unlocked anyone can open these doors, but when locked only my personal guards and I have access. This was installed in case psychological evaluation proved either of them unstable. I suppose I’ll have to program it to accept Allura as well…”

Allura, Coran and Romelle were all stunned as they looked around, letting all of their surroundings sink in, “Lotor, just how long did you know about the biotics?” Allura asked, facing the man, “How long were you invested in making this? Since when?”

“It’s been a while. However, while I knew about them, I wasn’t fully aware of their abilities. I’ve only just gained new information on how important the biotics were to my father. I knew they were dangerous before but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Their abilities exceed everything that we know is possible.” Lotor paused, “I’m sure we can talk about this later once you’ve all settled in.”

“How do we know we’ll be safe here?” Romelle asked carefully, “How do we know all you’re saying is true?”

“You don’t.” Lotor didn’t want to sugarcoat this, “But you must have come here because you have at least a little trust in me.” He turned to Allura again, “I can help you, and I will help you hide. However, I need your cooperation in return.”

In other words he wanted something, “What is it?”

Violet eyes turned to Lance, eyeing him warily, “I’d like to study the biotics. I won’t do anything you don’t allow me to, but I’d like your cooperation in learning more about them.” But even though Lotor said that, Lance didn’t register it, his eyes tiredly stared at the floor.

Allura was wary of this, especially considering Lance’s current state, “Give us time to think this through. I won’t agree to anything just yet.”

“Fair enough.” Lotor agreed to that, “I’m sure we can come to an agreement. It would be in our mutual interest to learn more about the biotics and perhaps use the dark matter to our advantage to defend ourselves when it comes to it. But before that, I’ll need to configure the security and allow you access to the doors Allura.”

“Alright.” The former district manager agreed, “Then it’s safe to assume that you won’t tell anyone we’re here?”

“No.” Lotor shook his head, “I’d never play into my father’s hands like that. Also, I’d never betray your trust Allura.” He raised his hand up, offering a handshake, “I’ll help you, all of you.”

Allura was hesitant, her hand twitched. She eyed Acxa who was quietly standing to the side, watching them warily. Her eyes then drifted to their surroundings, suspicious of them. There was much more than what met the eye here, especially when it came to Lotor’s involvement and knowledge of the biotics. However, Lotor seemed to be their only hope at the moment and she really did _want_  to trust him.

She noted how quiet Lance was, which was worrying. If he wasn’t so shaken up, she knew that he'd be complaining about Lotor and questioning him this very moment. That wasn’t the case, however, draped over Coran’s shoulder and sadly looking into the ground. That made the decision for her, mind set as she turned to Lotor. She couldn’t risk them being caught, not now when they all needed to recover.

Allura accepted Lotor’s handshake, agreeing to cooperate with him, “You and I have a lot to talk about Lotor.”

“Of course. We’re partners in crime as of now.” They both shook hands, and as they did, Coan and Romelle walked past them, aiming for the closest bed. Coran helped Lance settle down, the teen curling up in a fetal position as soon as he hit the soft surface. He clung onto the pillow tightly, ignoring the rest as he closed his eyes and indulged himself in his own thoughts.

“Lance… I’m-” Romelle felt guilty for showing fear before but she’d been so frightened by what she saw that her reaction was instinctual. Sendak’s arm disappeared out of nowhere, as if something ate it up. It was more than frightening, and it was the first time she’d seen something like that.

She felt Coran place a hand on her shoulder, slowly shaking his head. They had to let Lance rest and recover from the shock. He’d been so close to being captured by the government and needed some time to himself.

Romelle nodded her head, clenching her hand. She’d apologise to Lance when he recovered. She swore to herself that she’d comfort him as best she could once he was ready to talk and hug him like never before. She was his friend, and as a friend she needed to be there to support him.

Acxa eyed them carefully from where she stood, keeping an eye on them as Lotor and Allura stood, ready to take their leave. “We should go configure the security.” Lotor suggested, Allura agreed.

The three of them left, leaving Coran and Romelle alone with the silent Lance. Coran, for his part, went about studying the rooms, humming in appreciation as he studied the decor, “All things considered, Lotor _is_  being quite generous.”

“This is basically a prison Coran.” Romelle deadpanned, poking at one of the glass walls.

“And we’re fugitives my girl.” Coran reminded, eyes sweeping over the library, “No matter where we went we were never going to keep our freedom. That’s the price of being a fugitive.”

Romelle frowned, turning to stare at Coran, “You say that like you have experience in this.”

Coran hummed, twirling the edges of his moustache between two of his fingers, eyes locked onto the library still, but they were seeing things from long ago, “I was a white collar criminal once my girl. I didn’t stop because I wanted to.”

“You got caught?” Romelle turned to him, frowning.

“Indeed I did.” Coran hummed, “By Alfor. Luckily he and I were chums in grade school, and he understood why I had done what I had done, so he gave me the opportunity to work with him to reform the system rather than stay in prison.”

Romelle frowned.

“The price you pay for going against the system is, unfortunately, risking the freedom to operate in that system.” Coran reached out, pressing his hand against the glass, “We all must pay the consequences of our actions, no matter how noble or well intended, no matter if we’re right. It is not favorable, but it is better than what could be.”

“You sound like you’ve given up.” Romelle stated, a frown on her lips.

“I suppose it would to a young person like you.” Coran started, humming again, “But I assure you, of our little party, I am the most determined to take down the system, and I have been for a long time.”

Romelle fidgeted in place, looking around their new _home_ , “So am I Coran… so am I.”

 

* * *

 

A lone woman stood in what seemed to be a control room, all kinds of high tech monitors gathered around her. She had her arms folded against her chest, eyes staring holes into the many different screens.

First she eyed one that showed a tunnel within the underground, and since it was equipped with night vision, it allowed her to see every nook and cranny of the area. Seeing as there was no activity, the woman turned her attention onto the news, a displeased look on her face.

She listened as Luxia Queen explained what happened, everything from Sendak’s heroic exposure and Allura’s corrupt control over her district. There was even information that Allura had been working with criminals ever since she took over District Six, but she knew better. Those were nothing but lies to further strengthen the position of the government. It would be easier to find a replacement this way.

The door of the room opened but the woman didn’t even as much as bat an eye at its direction. Her attention was on the news, wary of the information at hand.

“It seems that we won’t be able to carry out our original retrieval mission anymore.” A man noted, moving to stand beside her, “I know you were hoping for a quick retrieval. We all were. It would have helped Keith adjust to his current situation.” The man, Kolivan, sighed.

“We’ll need to know where they moved him.” The woman’s voice was even, concentrated on the mission at hand, “It’s essential that we retrieve both of the biotics.”

“Of course.” Kolivan agreed, “But perhaps it would be a good idea for you to go see Keith yourself. You don’t have to tell him the truth just yet, but be there to support him. I know you missed him after all these years.”

“I’ve been watching him from the shadows.” The woman spoke, “I got to see him every day.”

“It’s not the same thing.” She felt a hand on her shoulder, “Talk to him. It will do you both good.”

The woman exhaled, her fingers tapping against the metal desk she leaned against, her eyes never once leaving the screens in front of her. Her face was stone, but her eyes wandered towards another screen, showing a room that barely could be called a bedroom, a single occupant pacing madly inside. The boy was pale, and much too small when comparing his size to…

Kolivan squeezed her shoulder, “Krolia, go speak to him.”

“He doesn’t know anything.” The woman frowned, her eyes still shifting over the image, watching the boy as he stopped pacing, falling to sit cross legged on the floor, taking his hands and holding them behind his head, rocking back and forth. It was the telltale sign of an oncoming panic attack. Aki had informed her that panic attacks were frequent, whenever the woman was able to crawl through the black market and find a member of their organization, handing over private recordings of the parts of Keith’s life Krolia had missed.

Krolia frowned, watching the screen carefully. From what she was able to gather it had been a long time since his last panic attack, the fact in of itself being a sign of how badly he was taking the situation. She couldn’t blame him, the circumstances must certainly seem horrific from his own point of view. Antok had informed her that Keith very well seemed to believe he was going to be sexualy assulted upon waking the first time.

On screen Keith was still rocking himself, seeming to force himself to take even breaths, the process repeating for a few minutes before he stood up rather quickly and began pacing all over again. Krolia frowned, uneasy with the pattern he’d settled in. This was the third time he’d done this since he’d woken, and it looked like it was going to be something he’d repeat for a while.

“Has Sven returned yet?” Krolia asked, her eyes on the screen, “He may be better received than I would be.”

“Sven has checked in.” Kolvian frowned, “And you may wait to meet Keith with him if you would feel more comfortable.”

Krolia said nothing.

The older man sighed, “Krolia, you’ve spent years planning his escape, and you’ve spent years waiting for this day. It will ease your mind some if you speak to him.”

“We have to focus on finding the other biotic Kolivan.” Krolia clicked her tongue, her eyes flickering back towards the news stream.

“Speak to your son Krolia.” Kolivan sighed, “It doesn’t have to be a personal conversation, but it will clear your mind. You and I both know you are not truly focused now.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to face him.” Krolia went ahead and said it, hands clenching against the metal of the table, “Watching him from the sidelines is different from speaking to him. I don’t know if I can handle it. I’ve missed so much in his life Kolivan.”

“I know.” The man understood, “We can’t change the past but we can work forward to a better future. This can be the starting point for you.”

Krolia’s eyes moved onto him, unsure and hesitant, “I doubt I’ll be able to help him. If anything I’ll send him into a panic attack.”

“I’m sure you won’t. Nobody approached him since Slav left. I imagine he’d want to know what’s happening and why he’s where he is.” He didn’t blame Keith for having panic attacks. On the contrary, it would be strange if he wasn’t fazed by the whole situation. But this meant that they had to do their part of calming him down, “He’ll listen to you, that I know.”

Krolia inhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a second before opening them again. She felt that she was going to regret this later, but a part of her urged her to go down there and face her son head on. He needed her now, more than ever before.

This would be the first time she would speak to him ever since he was an infant and she carried him within her arms. The first time they’d be facing one another since the time she helped both him and 003 escape from the facility.

 _That_  time had finally come, and she was not ready.

Krolia turned, “You win Kolivan. Do me a favour and watch us from here. I’ll need you in case he has a panic attack.”

“Alright.” Kolivan nodded as she walked out of the room, heading down empty hallways. She felt anxious with every step she took but she willed herself to keep going. She longed to see Keith but at the same time the thought filled her with fear.

Krolia would admit that she wasn’t a good mother. How could she be when she was never there for Keith? It pained her that fate treated them this way, and that she couldn’t do anything else for him, but she’d like to think that she did everything that was within her power to protect him.

She had left, but it wasn’t for her mission as a Blade. It was to protect the one she loved the most.

The door to Keith’s room appeared within her sights, stopping just in front of it. She gathered herself and readied herself emotionally before she pressed the button. It was time… She couldn’t evade this any longer.

With a final breath she pushed open the door, metal hinges screeching as the barrier between her and Keith was pushed away.

Keith jumped as she entered, his eyes going wide as he swerved around, violet orbs locking onto her. A scowl spread across lips, his wide eyes soon narrowing into a harsh glare, fists raising defensively. She’d watched all his matches in the arena, every single one, and she can recognize this stance. Keith used it for people her size, only slightly bigger than him, his strategy was to take them down quickly with an overwhelming blow.

“Who are you?” Keith demanded, taking on an aggressive stance. He’s defensive, trying to act like he hadn’t just worked his way through a panic attack, there were slight ripples of light between his fingers.

“I’m Krolia.” She stepped into the room, letting the door fall closed behind her so Keith couldn’t think about trying to escape into the underground. He tried attacking the door before, then tried tearing apart his bed for something to pick the lock. She appreciated his resourcefulness, but the Blade had been planning this for a long time, a lot longer than he’s been learning how to make lockpicks. “I work with Dr. Slav.”

“Yeah?” Keith quirked an eyebrow, “That just proves that the Doc works with a bunch of kidnappers these days.”

Krolia doesn’t say anything to that, can’t say anything to that. Their methods hadn’t exactly been the most legal or morally upright, and she can’t fault him for being wary of them. She doesn’t regret the decision her colleges came to, however, it was one she agreed with herself. If it were up to her she would have taken Keith even sooner, when it became clear that living with the Shirogane’s was no longer an option.

She found that she didn’t know what to say, so she tried for professional first, “We apologize, but the situation has become far too dire for us to leave things as they were. You were in a very dangerous situation and it was far past time for our intervention.”

“Your intervention.” Keith scoffed, shaking his head, “I was doing pretty damn fine on my own, thanks, you can let me out so I can find my brother now.”

“You were in the  _underground_  Keith.” Krolia tried to keep the stress repressed in her voice, “Anything could have happened to you.”

“I know. It did.” Keith spat, glaring at her almost hatefully, his shoulders squared. He’s not a fool, but he has a temper and it’s running dangerously thin. He got that from her, she thinks, or maybe he got it from the life he’s lead so far. She’d like to think it was from her, the glare certainly was. “You took me from my friends. They must be worried sick. Does my brother even know where I am?”

“We have not informed him.” Krolia stated factually. They planned to have Sven contact Shirogane once the group had reached whatever destination they’d aimed for when entering the underground. She doesn't tell him that their men saw his brother nearly run straight back into the underground to find him.

“So he has no idea where I am.” Keith sneered, “He could think I’ve been killed, or skinned by those psychos.”

“We plan to inform him where you are.” Krolia tried to soothe him. She shouldn’t be revealing the Blade’s plans, but some inner part of her, the part that must have been the motherly affection, wants to soothe him.

She knows him, more than he could imagine. There were videos of him as a child, good and bad, copied from Samuel Holt’s many cameras. Some she couldn’t stand to watch, even as a hardened member of the Blade, not when it was her son. And there were moments of weakness when she would ask Dr. Slav for any scrap of information he had, any tiny memory. There were recorded moments that Aki managed to capture, like Keith’s first Christmas, or his first Halloween.

He doesn’t know anything about her, or his father, doesn’t even believe they exist. He likely believes he was grown in a bottle, created from donated eggs and stored sperm, the child of a test tube rather than a woman. Not a child ripped from his mother’s arms as soon as he was born, leaving her weak and heavy against a bed, waiting to hold a baby that doctors told her had died. He didn’t know he was stolen, hidden away from her while she was left bleeding and exhausted.

Most of those children had been kidnapped. Some were taken from orphanages, or abandoned by mothers who never wanted sickly children, but most were stolen. Hundreds of women looking for help with difficult pregnancies or sickly children were promised help, only for some to return home with empty arms.

She’d never forget her own empty arms as she was hurried out of the hospital, her cries ignored as she _insisted_  her child wasn’t dead. A lot of mothers acted like she did, from what she understood, and she received no more sympathy than any of the others. She was rushed out of the hospital with a blanket and a death certificate, nothing but empty apologies and condolence money to show for her visit.

And now here he was, her son, the one that had been stolen from her all those years ago. Taken and tortured, and it was a miracle that he survived at all, when most of the children he’d grown up beside had died sad deaths in those cold labs. How was she suppose to tell him the truth? How was she suppose to explain the depths of her love for him, how far she was willing to go to protect him? The only reason she’d ever even entered this god forsaken city was for the smallest of chances he would _live_.

“I know you may not trust us at this point in time, but trust me when I say that we’re here to help. All we want is to protect you from the government.” Krolia tried, “Can we sit down and talk?”

Keith eyed her, debating on which call he should make. He didn’t have much of a choice, so he agreed, “I don’t trust you but I want answers.” He walked up to the bed, seating himself on one side, waiting for Krolia to join him.

The woman felt relieved at that, walking over and seating herself on the other side of the bed. She could feel Keith’s eyes on her, wary should she try anything. “I should introduce myself first. My name is Krolia and I’m a member of the Blade. We’re an organisation that operates within the shadows, dealing with highly classified information and other work of that nature.”

“Why do you want me?” Keith asked, “Dr. Slav told me you want to protect me but you took me against my will. How can I trust you after that? If you want my trust then let me see my brother.”

“We cannot contact Takashi Shirogane at this moment.” Krolia informed, moving the slightest bit closer to him, just the smallest amount, “We have plans to send word to him once he’s settled into a safe place.”

“But no plans to let me leave.” Keith snorted, resentment heavy in his voice.

“No.” Krolia shook her head, “There have been rather disturbing developments with the people tracking you, and the chances of you getting caught are far too high to leave you alone.”

“I wasn’t alone.” Keith hissed, “I had help.”

“One branch of rebels who were already backed into a corner and took you into the underground without any weapons is not help Keith.” Korlia scolded, “Not real help. What you’ve done so far is impressive, but there’s only so much the Holts can do.”

“And I’m just supposed to trust a bunch of strangers that kidnapped me instead?” Keith gave a humorless chuckle, “At least Matt and Pidge has some proof they really wanted to help me. So far all you’ve done was drug me, kidnap me, and locked me up in the underground.”

“You would not have come willingly.” Krolia responded. She knew him well enough by now, knew that he wouldn’t have trusted them even a bit, that the Holts wouldn’t have trusted them either. There was no time to waste trying to earn such trust either. Sendak had already tracked down the other biotic, it would have only been a matter of time before he reached Keith as well, “And it was too dangerous to let you roam.”

“That doesn’t make it better.” Keith hissed, practically spitting the words, “You’re nothing but a stranger that works with a guy I sort of knew twelve years ago. I don’t have a reason to trust you. For all I know you could be getting me ready for a lab too.”

And he was right about that. From his point of view, Keith knew next to nothing about them. It wasn’t that hard to understand where he was coming from. Krolia knew that all too well, deciding that she would work on earning Keith’s trust from this point onward.

“Then would you agree to work with us? Instead of being locked up in here, you could join us in the command room. There are more of us roaming around this base, and more in many other bases around the city as well. We could use your help in exposing the government.”

“And how can I trust you on this?” Keith narrowed his eyes, “How will I know that you’re not going to take me to a lab right now?”

The woman took in a deep breath and gathered herself before standing up from the bed. She turned to Keith, looking down at him with a focused stare, “You have nothing to lose but the choice is your to make. You either stay here and wait for whatever we may do with you, or you join us and help us reach our goals.” She offered her hand for Keith to take, “And trust me when I say that our goals are the same. We’ll find the second biotic and then expose the government for what it is. We’ll contact your brother as well and let him know that you’re safe.”

“Or you can let me go.” Keith hissed, pushing as far as he could, “You know, you could _not_  lock me up, maybe _not_  treat me like a prisoner.”

“I’ve given you a choice in the matter Keith.” Krolia replied seriously, “You can either take the opportunity or leave it.”

“That’s not a choice, that’s an ultimatum.” Keith pushes away from her, still glaring, “That was basically saying ‘work with us or we’ll keep you locked up’. You expect me to join you when I don’t know shit about you and all you’ve done is kidnap me? You’re fucking insane.”

“I’ve given you the opportunity to get out of here Keith.” Krolia’s voice takes a sharp edge, she doesn’t mean to, but she does. It’s frustrating, just a bit, because Keith is right here and still so far away at the same time. She doesn’t know if playing her hand was a mistake or not, but it most certainly looked that way now.

“And I don’t believe a word you say.” Keith snorted again, standing up and moving away from her, “I’m not going to help you kidnap Lance too. Fuck off.”

“We’re not going to kidnap him.” Krolia tried, “All we want to do is help the both of you.”

“And I really appreciate your help right now.” Keith’s tone was as sarcastic as it could get, “You’re doing everything you think is good for me. I just have to deal with it, right?”

Krolia paused there, meeting Keith’s violet eyes head on. The situation was getting worse and if she didn’t take action now, she felt that Keith may see her in a negative light for the rest of her life. She couldn’t stand the thought of it, not when all she wanted was to be on good terms with him. If she couldn’t be there for him, then at least she wanted to remain close. Krolia moved onto the bed again, seating herself down. She felt Keith’s eyes on her, watching her every move, “I wish we didn’t have to keep you locked up in here. You probably don’t believe me, but I really do think so.”

Her own eyes turned to face her son, unmoving from his challenging gaze, “But this is a room that is able to withstand your biotic abilities. If we were to take you out without knowing that you wouldn’t attack us or try to escape, we would be risking all our lives. That’s why I’m giving you a choice between staying here and coming with me willingly. You’d be a danger to us all if left you by yourself anywhere except this room.”

The pale boy folded his arms, eyes narrowing, “And you think I’d kill everyone here using my power to try and get away?”

“It is possible.” She didn’t want to beat around the bush, especially when it came to something as serious as this, “The situation is dire and now it’s gotten even worse. If you agree not to try and escape, we’ll share this new information with you.”

Keith remained quiet here and it felt strange to her when she expected him to refuse right away. She wasn’t giving him a solid reason as to why he should work with them, or assure him that they’re not his enemy. All she was doing was bribing him, and she had to admit that it was all she had at the moment.

Still, Keith was quiet which meant that he must be considering what she said thoroughly, “Okay.” The boy surprisingly agreed, “I won’t destroy anything and I won’t try to escape. Staying here will get me nowhere so I’ll try working with you.”

Krolia had to blink a couple of times to let reality sink in. Keith was accepting her offer, saying that he’ll abide by the rules. Still, she knew better than to trust him just like that. Keith was a wild card at times, meaning that he could make unexpected moves when he wanted to. In this case, he would most likely want to escape. “You’ve changed your mind rather easily.” She noted.

“It’s no use sitting and waiting down here.” The teen hissed, “If you’re going to keep me here then at least give me information I can work with.”

That seemed sensible enough, and yet Krolia still felt a catch somewhere along the line. But Keith was agreeing to not cause trouble so she took that as is. Maybe it was due to her motherly instincts, but she couldn’t stand seeing the boy cooped up in here anymore. Multiple panic attacks aren’t an easy thing to deal with and she didn’t want Keith to face it if it was needless.

“But how can I be sure that you won’t break anything?” Kolia asked carefully, eyeing him up and down, “Or be sure that this isn’t an escape attempt.”

“You’ll just have to trust me.” Keith threw her words back at her, “It’s a risk you’d be taking.”

Very well played on Keith’s part. Krolia acknowledged that. However, before letting him out, she had to keep him at bay with _something_ , and she knew just what it would take, “If you follow me then I’ll tell you what happened to 003. He’s become a wanted man, just like yourself. His location had been exposed.”

“What?” _That_  caught Keith’s attention, “You’re lying.”

“I’m not. It’s the truth.” And to prove it, she played a part of the news on her bracelet, letting the image of Allura show, as well as the image of the car chase Lance and his group found themselves not long ago.

Keith watched with wide eyes, conflicted and hesitant, “I didn’t see him. I can’t know it’s him for sure.”

“But it is.” Krolia pulled up a picture, “The government knows what the both of you look like now. You’re both in danger and that’s why we have to secure you both.” Feeling that she may have gained Keith’s cooperation, Krolia stood up, walking up to the door and opening it. “Come with me and I’ll-” She let out a pained cry when she suddenly felt something push her against the outside wall.

Keith used his biotics to push her further away from the wall and then took off running into the dark tunnel to the side. Damn, he was really fast. “Keith has escaped!” Krolia spoke through the comms, “Pursue and capture!”

 

* * *

 

Keith felt a surge in his body the moment he stepped out of the room, the world around him seemed larger and less suffocating somehow. It was a pulse of life, his world rang with the noise, skin vibrating. He felt like an addict getting his hit.

The first thing he did was warp, feeling the force of the jerk and his feet hit the end of the hallway in a blink, leaving the door behind. There was a moment of vertigo, but he powered through it, forcing himself to move with wobbling legs and a spinning head. There wasn’t time to stop, there would never be time to stop.

The hall was dim, with only one lamp from beside his door lighting it. The adjacent hallways were dark, like the rest of the underground, with no sign of who might be hiding under it. He didn’t care though, he had to get moving, so he picked a random hall and started sprinting, letting the darkness take him like an old and familiar friend.

He didn’t know if his kidnappers had a way to see in the dark, but he didn’t care. He was high on adrenaline right now, and he didn’t give a shit about subtly and keeping his head down anymore. Shiro and the others weren’t here anymore, so he could cut loose and not give a shit who he was hitting. He would be worn down, eventually, but so long as the adrenaline kept him going he could probably escape into some hole in the wall in another part of the underground until he recovered and found his way to the surface.

There were noises from somewhere, he thought, but this time he wasn’t going to let them touch him. He focused, trying to pull long repressed memories forward. What was it he used to do that kept away pain…?

Eye snapping open, Keith threw his arms out, forcing the field around him to solidify, a barrier tentatively forming around him. It was wobbly, not at all perfect, and wouldn’t last against too much force, but it should protect him for a bit. With the added benefit of knocking back whatever tried to touch him.

He apparently put it up just in time, because someone or something else was thrown back, a large grunt sounded as Keith assumed whoever it was hit a wall. Whatever they’d been trying to do didn’t have too much force behind it, because the barrier was still up. The noirette shook his head, deciding he didn’t give a shit and leapt forward.

Whoever else was in the dark learned from the last guy’s mistake and started shooting instead. Keith had no idea if it was bullets or tranquilizers, but he didn’t care to find out. He pulled more power forward, building it into his arm. Once he had enough he slammed his fist into the ground, letting it flow in every direction around him. He heard several voices around him shout in surprise as they were lifted from the ground and slammed back into the concrete. He moved as soon as he was done, drawing more power and throwing a wave in front of him, determined to clear his path as he went.

Someone was trying to knock against his barrier from behind, it felt like a rock was thrown at him, and he simply turned and threw another wave at them. Someone else was on his other side though, and attacked as soon as his back was turned. _This_  person shattered his barrier, but was thrown back for their effort. Keith cursed, hastily trying to put up another barrier, only for his shoulder to explode with pain as he was hit with what felt like a bullet. Blood flowed from the wound, and he grabbed at it as he fell to his knees.

“Oh shi-” He heard someone half curse, but he didn’t stick around long enough to let them finish. He pulled forward, letting himself warp again, hopefully further away. He landed on top of someone this time, knocking them over, his shoulder was still bleeding horrifically as the two of them fell to the ground. He hissed, as did whoever was under him. Though the man beneath him wrapped their arms around him in a deadlock. He crushed, wriggling horribly, but the man wouldn’t _let go_.

Fine.

Keith pulled the power forward again, wrapping for the third time, dragging the man with him as they were lost in the darkness. He was getting dizzier and dizzier, neither used to using this of his biotic abilities nor used to losing this much blood.

“Keith.” The man holding him had a deeply concerned voice, “You need to stop.”

Keith tried to push him off with a wave directly at his chest, but it turned out to be counterproductive as all it did was send Keith flying with him, with the added bonus of giving him whiplash to go along with the gaping hole in his shoulder. He tried to think of what he could do to get out of this guy’s ridiculously strong grip, but now he was only dizzier, the blood loss and overuse of his abilities catching up with him. The adrenaline was wearing off now too, and he was starting to feel sleepy, his eyes fighting not to blink close.

“You _shot_  me.” Keith slurred, his cheek resting against the man’s chest. He was so tired, so tired, “I could’ve launched a biotic spear through you, but I didn’t. And you _shot_  me.”

God, he was dizzy. Did the guy say anything else? He didn’t know. He didn’t care either, he just wanted to go to sleep now. Why had he tried to run again? It was pretty important. He remembers that. Shit, he was so tired. “I’m bleeding, there’s a hole.”

He closed his eyes, too tired to keep them open, there was no difference anyway. He’d just take a nap for a while, that seemed like a good idea. Besides, a nap might make the burning go away. Oh, yeah, his skin was on fire, and everything tingled. “I’m going to take a nap.”

He doesn’t hear...Shiro?...was this guy Shiro? He doesn’t hear Shiro protest, so he lets his mind drift.

 

* * *

 

“Are we there yet?” Hunk asked worriedly as he and the rest of his group snuck around containers meant for shipment. It was strange that they would be here but apparently that’s where Pidge and Matt had their hidden base. Located inside one of the older containers that were no longer in use, placed to the side for people to pass by.

They currently found themselves in a port, large tankers floating beside them on the sea. It was a strange change of scenery and the smell of sea was definitely something Hunk didn’t smell in a while. Then again, it was also a good hiding spot. He doubts anyone would think of looking for them here.

“We’re already here.” Matt patted him on the shoulder, “Container number 54.” And as he said it Matt pointed to the container, rusty in appearance and surrounded by other abandoned containers. “It may look bad but Pidge and I decorated so the inside is comfy.”

Hunk found that hard to believe with the way the containers stood. They looked like they would all collapse any second now. They all walked up to container number 54 before Pidge worked on opening it. Matt helped her and the both of them managed to get it done, only to find themselves faced with a new looking door.

Pidge proceeded to punch in a code, then let the device on the door scan her eye before it granted them access. The girl opened the second door wide for them all to enter, now finding themselves in a more base looking scenery.

Hunk held onto Shay tightly as he looked around, noting the many devices and holoscreens that suddenly lit up. The space was bigger than he imagined it to be. He’d thought they’d all be squeezed inside but no, that wasn’t the case. The base was bigger in size, which made Hunk think that it wasn’t just that one old container that was hiding it. They must all be connected, hiding what’s within.

“I haven't gotten a reply yet.” Matt noted, seating himself in a chair, facing a holoscreen in front of him.

“Fuck.” Pidge cursed to herself while the rest of their group moved to sit on a single couch that was there. Hunk had one of his arms around Shay, while the other was squeezing her hand assuringly. His brown eyes looked over at Shiro worriedly, the man having remained quiet for the duration of their trip. The guy looked on the verge of falling apart and Hunk couldn’t blame him for it.

If Shay disappeared underground like that he would be out of himself. Honestly, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how Shiro was holding up right now. He thinks that the hope gained from Pidge and Matt’s reassurances is the only thing that is holding him together at this moment.

Still, it was rough to watch the way Shiro just robotically entered the safe house, as dazed and confused as could be. He doesn't know Shiro very much, but the guy was always nice and put together. He seemed unbreakable. So watching him blankly walk towards a chair and just sort of collapse in it was hard. It makes a new wave of guilt eat through him, because _he_  was the one that was next to Keith when he disappeared and he should have noticed _something_.

He shook his head. No, he didn’t have time for that. He needed to focus on what he could do now. Shay and Shiro both needed time. Shiro probably needed space right now, but Shay needed comforting and that’s what he was going to do.

“Are you alright Shay?” Hunk asked, his arm still wrapped around her, practically the only thing holding her up at this point. She blinked tiredly, turning to face him. Everything about her was exhausted it seemed, and he couldn’t blame her, he had _known_  about what would most likely happen today and he was still bone weary and wanted nothing more than a soft bed and a hot meal right now.

Unfortunately the only beds here were a few bedless mattresses; three of them. And there wasn't any sort of kitchen other than a small plug stove that had two iron grills. No pots or pans, so Hunk assumed the cans of spaghettios and beans stacked in the corner would be their dinner until something more substantial came up. It wasn’t the best accommodation, but right now it looked like paradise.

“Come on.” He stared towards one of the mattresses, ready to lay his girlfriend down and get them both the rest they desperately needed, “We should get some sleep.”

“...What is going on Hunk?” Shay didn’t cry, or sound desperate like before, she was just tired now. Even the fear had been worked out of her now, the heaviness of her soul and body the only thing that registered anymore. She was never more thankful for a bed than when Hunk helped her onto the mattress gently.

“That’s a long story Shay.” Hunk winced, “I should probably tell you when you’re not so tired.”

“This isn’t a sleepy kind of tired Hunk.” Shay sighed, curling onto the blanket beneath her, “Just give me the shortest version you know.”

Hunk winced again, his face twisting. It was the same look he got when something bad happened and he didn’t want to tell her the details. Still, she was a grown woman, so he always gave in, “Keith...he’s not what people say...he’s...he’s…”

Hunk sighed, his body deflating, “You were right...about Rax. They did take him. They took a lot of kids...and Keith...he’s a pretty good example of what they were doing to the kids...he’s one of the only ones that got away…”

“Rax?” She lifted her head, “He’s like Rax?”

“Yeah.” Hunk nodded, squeezing her hand, “Keith and another guy named Lance...they’re like Rax. Or close enough. They’re the only ones who...got out...and the people who took them...they want them back, so we’re trying to hide.”

Shay didn’t need to ask what he meant by “the only ones who got out.” It was clear to her. So she closed her eyes and pretended, just for a moment, that this was all just a terrible dream, and that Rax was fine, that Keith, that poor boy, wasn’t alone in the dark. It felt good to pretend, it felt like her entire world _hadn’t_  just fallen apart, “Alright.”

Hunk looked down at her worriedly, “Are you sure you’re only tired Shay? You don’t look so good.” He touched her forehead to check for a temperature but she didn’t have one. Still, Shay never looked this tired before.

“I’m managing.” The girl closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, “I hope we find him soon.” Violence wasn’t something Shay liked, no, she detested it more than the average person. She was an empathetic person and on many occasions her empathy is so strong that she’s unable to sleep or sit still.

It was harder and harder to rest the more she thought about it. She covered herself entirely with the blanket, holding onto the top end anxiously. Hunk noticed it, and resolved himself to lay next to his girlfriend. “I’ll keep you company.” He joined Shay in bed, both of them now covered with the large blanket.

“Are you sure? What if they need you?” Shay asked in concern, but it made Hunk smile, “They’ll call me if they need me. Don’t worry, I’m sure Pidge and Matt can handle the searching. You need me right now and I’m here to stay.” He ran his hand through her hair, snuggling close to his lover.

Meanwhile as Hunk tended to Shay, Pidge and Matt switched on the holoscreens, ready to work their magic. “No reply yet.” The first thing Matt checked were the emails but contrary to hoping there would be a reply from Lance, there was nothing.

“Fuck.” Pidge hissed loudly, turning on the news, “Matt! Come here! You have to see this!” She yelled, immediately gaining her brother’s attention. Matt leaned closer to see, eyes going wide as he watched the report.

Shiro who remained seated on the couch listened in as well, finally standing up from his seat to get a better view. The three of them watched the news, getting up to date to what happened. The one thing they never would have guessed before coming here was that Allura Alteanis would be labelled as a traitor, currently on the run from the government.

It was even more surprising to find out that she had apparently been housing a criminal, showing a picture of Lance on the screen from what looked like a security footage within the Alteanis mansion.

There was no saying that Pidge’s blood turned to pure ice. The girl let her head fall onto the table surface, unsure how to approach this. She felt Matt place a hand on her back, as if assuring her would help in this moment, “I don’t think they caught him. They wouldn’t have put up his picture like that if they did.”

Pidge gathered the energy to sit up again, turning to her brother, “Did we get a reply?”

Matt hesitated, biting his bottom lip, “Not yet.”

That made it all worse. Pidge felt all of her plans crumble away within minutes. First Keith was kidnapped right in front of them and now this. How could she had let all of this happen? Her dad would have been furious right now and she knew it. He was never as furious as some people could be, but he would be besides himself right now if he was with them.

“Fuck.” Pidge cursed, deflating as the fight left her. She wasn’t in any more position to help him than she was to help Keith right now. She was stuck in a crate, no real way to find them right now. And even if she could track either of them she was in a sticky situation right now and leaving to go find them wasn’t really an option. They were in _hiding_  for goodness sake. It was a very delicate situation, and she couldn’t run out willy nilly.

Even going out to get some supplies would be incredibly risky for a while.

The best they could honestly hope for was that Lance replies soon, there was nothing else for it. She could try contacting them again, but there was little else she could do. Her hands were tied, and it was a bitter thing to admit.

“I’m going to send another email.” Pidge pulls up the messages again, pressing the record button so she could record a verbal message, just to assure them she was still the same person as before, “We’ve made it to a safe house, but Keith is still gone. Please contact us as soon as possible.”

She sent the message without hesitation. Her brown eyes flickered over the room, taking stock of her companions. Shiro was pacing now, which was an improvement at least, Shay was down, Hunk was next to her, and Matt at some point turned to pretend he was taking stock of the food.

“All we can do is wait.” Pidge sighed, taking off her glasses, “I can try to find them, but we’re still stuck here until they initiate contact.”

“Which they might not do because they’re on the run too.” Matt finished for her, his shoulders slumping, “I can’t believe we fucked this up so bad.”

“We’re going to find them.” Shiro spoke for the first time in a while, his voice firm, determined. He turned towards them, his eyes sharp, “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: So...here we are. it's been a long time, and that was pretty much my fault. I'm not going to lie, s8 accidently hit a lot of...really sensitive points for me, and I was emotionally burned out, and I was just so *tired*. I needed to take a step back, jump into other fandoms for a bit, ignore VLD for a while and just...move on. I've finally gotten to a point where being in the fandom doesn't make me sick, and I'm happy and ready to tackle these stories again. I've kinda disowned canon verse forever, but we're good, I'm good, and my mental health is okay! We're back in the game! Or, well, Star never left the game, so I'm back in the game!
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: Hey everyone! We're really sorry for the slow update :( But alas here it is!
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	7. Monster

The one person Lance will never forget from his childhood is Dr. Haggar. She was a revered scientist and a woman of few words. Although when she did speak, her words hit those they were aimed at harshly.

The younger him never liked being with her alone, and now that he was older, he could understand why that was. She never saw him and Keith as living beings or as children wanting to play outside. Just like the rest of the scientists back at the facility, she saw the both of them as nothing more than experiments. They could have died and she wouldn’t have thought anything of it. All she would have worried about was finding new test subjects.

Still, Keith and him dying would mean a loss in progress and so Haggar and the rest of the scientists made sure to monitor their health, careful so that they wouldn’t fail like the rest of the children.

He’ll always remember one specific day when he found himself alone with Dr. Haggar in her lab, going through his daily check-up. He remembers the way Dr. Haggar looked at him as she examined his body, face neutral so that nobody could tell what she was thinking about.

“Is it over?” The younger him asked hesitantly, blue eyes looking up at the woman hopefully. He remembers that another scientist took Keith away at the same time, but an empty room was much more comfortable than being in Dr. Haggar’s presence.

“Not yet.” The woman answered neutrally, hiding her emotions in every way possible. Lance still doesn’t know if that was done on purpose but he had a feeling that was just how she was. He knows that some people are more expressive than others but Haggar was a special case. “Next we’ll test your sugar levels.” The woman noted, talking to herself rather him.

She took some of his blood, turning to analyse its sugar levels. Lance watched her uncomfortably, yet as a child he always loved to talk about the most random things. It was a coping mechanism he’d developed in the facility without even realizing it back then, “Dr. Haggar do you know what dogs are?” He asked curiously, the scientist pausing for a second before continuing in her work.

“Of course.” She answered casually, “How do you know about them?”

“Uncle Sam told me.” The innocent him of that time didn’t know any better, “He said they were super fluffy and love to cuddle. Some are big but there are small ones too. They love to play, just like Keith and I do.” Younger Lance swung his legs back and forth, “Keith wants one. Can… Can he get one?”

The woman hummed, showing that he had her attention. He thought that must have been a good sign since he didn’t get anything else out of her, “I think Keith would like a red dog. Red is his favourite colour and Uncle Sam said dogs were colourful too. Could we get him a red one?”

Haggar hummed once again, turning back to him once she was done checking his sugar. She picked a sheet of paper that was to his side, then helped him down from the metal bed he was seated on, “Dogs aren’t allowed within the facility, and a red one doesn’t exist. There is no need for one.”

“But Keith would be happy if he had one.” Lance tried again, “Please?” He asked, more uncertain as he and Haggar made their way out of the lab and into the corridor. The woman didn’t say anything, even as they walked back. Not a word was said when they finally arrived in front of Lance’s room, opening the door for him to enter.

“Go on. We’re done for the day,” she said as he stepped inside, turning to face her again. His eyes were hopeful as he looked up at her, meeting her gaze before she pressed the button for the door to close. Once it was completely shut Lance was left in the dark, feeling empty inside.

Haggar hadn’t said anything back then but maybe it was for the best. If she would have responded in anyway, he was sure that it would do nothing but pull him further into the darkness he found himself in.

The older him was sure of it, lying down and staring at the ceiling above. It was strange that he would think back on something like that but he couldn’t think about anything else. Even though he didn’t agree with the way Haggar thought about them, he found himself questioning what he was now.

He remembers the way his power tore Sendak’s arm apart, dissolving it into nothingness. It scared him. That he could do that, turning _something_ into _nothing_.

_Monster._

The word echoed through his mind for hours, sending shivers down his spine. He didn’t want to admit it but a part of him knew it was true. He was a monster, a being that wasn’t meant to exist, artificially made in a laboratory.

He was an abnormality and that scared him. He had never thought about it before, too distracted with other things to really think about what he was. He doesn’t really know what the limits of his powers are and how he could use them.

Does he want to use them at all though? That was another question that popped up. What if he does and he ends up killing someone in the process? He had the power to kill with a snap of a finger and that was scary.

Lance curled in on himself, holding up the locket to look at it. He let the melody play, closing his eyes to listen. The melody always soothed his worries but this time it would be awhile before he could really calm himself.

The room Lotor assigned him wasn’t bad, it was private enough, or at least Coran wasn’t here right now. Instead of sharing one of the rooms like Romelle and Allura did, Coran had decided he would sleep in the library, giving Lance his privacy. The brunette was grateful for the older man’s tact, needing the space right now.

He didn’t want to get up, he just wanted to lay in bed and listen to this melody forever. If he closed his eyes he could imagine Keith was there, and if he hugged a pillow hard enough it would feel warm enough to pretend. 

The tanned boy rolled, pillow still locked in his arms, not quite able to find _just_ the right position to really picture it. Still, he was close enough that he was almost fooled. That was enough to make him worry just a bit less, to imagine that Keith really was here and not running around the underground somewhere like a damned fool. 

He missed Keith. 

Allura and Lotor had gone off somewhere to try and figure out what to do, and that conversation would obviously involve Keith at some point or another. Lance wasn’t going to sit in on that though. He was better off being somewhere calm rather than sitting at a table and listening to Lotor and Allura go back and forth about what to do and how to get Keith out of the underground.

Besides, the bed was nice, which automatically made it a better option than sitting in a stuffy chair.

There was a knock at his door, and he groaned as he heard it slide open despite the fact he hadn’t answered. That meant one of two people; Romelle or Coran. And from the lack of immediate shouting he was guessing it was Romelle.

“Lance?” And right on the GAC Romelle’s voice filled his ears. He heard her footsteps walk over, felt the dip of the bed where she sat, and the feather light touch of her hand against his forearm. “I came to see if you’re alright.”

“I’m fine.” Lance answered, the soft melody filling his ears, “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Lance, you almost died earlier today.” Romelle stated with uncharacteristic calmness, or, well, as close as she could get with that hitch in her voice. “I thought that Sandac guy nearly killed you.”

“Sendak.” Lance corrected, “And it’s the other way around Romelle; I almost killed _him_.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Romelle spoke, her voice still weirdly calm _and_ emotional all at the same time. “It was scary, and I thought you’d gotten hurt, or caught. So much was going on and I didn’t know what to do. I was useless and you almost got caught.”

That’s when she broke down, her voice cracking, and now she was obviously crying, “Lance, you _almost got caught,_ and I just _stood there_.”

Lance blinked his eyes open, sitting up with a frown, “You did a little more than just stand there Romelle.”

“He had you Lance.” Romelle sniffed, “He had you! And...and...if you hadn’t poofed away that serial killer arm then he’d _still_ have you and I just froze up when you needed me the most, and then his arm was gone, and I don’t even know what happened or how you did it, but we all almost ended up in prison and I just _stood there_.”

“Romelle, calm down.”  Lance scooted over towards her, reaching out to pat her back, “You did everything you could. If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have made it as far as we did.”

“My job is to hide you.” Romelle clenched her hands shut, “And I couldn’t do it. He should have never been able to find you.”

“You did your job.” Lance reassured, “It’s not your fault Sendak cheated and had some weird...biotic tracker.”

“I should have thought of that.” Romelle wouldn’t let up on herself, “I knew they were looking for you. I should have thought they’d find a way to do that.”

“Allura and Coran didn’t think of it either.” Lance hummed, “Besides, we got away.”

“Lance, we got away because of...of...an accident or something!” Romelle pulled her pigtails, “Who knows if you’ll be able to do that again! What if it was a one-time adrenaline thing? How will we get away then? _Can_ you do it again?”

Well, color him surprised. This wasn’t the way he thought this conversation would go. She wanted him to do that _again?_ “Romelle...I made his arm disappear.”

“Only his robotic arm. He can get a new one! We have to be ready for it!” Romelle pumped her fist, “We can’t get caught again.”

“Romelle...I could have disintegrated _him_.” Lance pointed out gently, acknowledging the elephant in the room.

“That would have been lucky.” Romelle sighed mournfully, “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about him _or_ hiding from him.”

He _should not_ be the one freaked out by this conversation right now, “Romelle!”

“Lotor said this place was hidden, right?” Romelle hummed, “And there’s a practice room for your biotics? Maybe we can practice self defence there! That way you can control it better! You haven’t practiced in twelve years!”

“You want me to _practice_ .” Lance gaped at her, slacked jawed and full of disbelief, “Romelle I could have _disintegrated_ _him_.”

“We don’t have to disintegrate him.” Romelle stated, “Think about it! If you practice then you’ll have better control! Then you can do that thing, you know, the one where you push people! Or that thing where you disappear and reappear far away! We could do that all the time and you won’t get super tired!”

Romelle threw out her arms in a pushing motion, “Then you can just _push_ him into traffic! We can say he tripped!”

Lance couldn’t do anything but stare at her with wide eyes, unsure what to really say, “So you’re saying it’s fine if I disintegrated him right then and there?”

“I’m saying that it would have helped us.” The girl stressed, “You could have been _taken away_ Lance. What’s better? That or using your power to get away?”

“Neither of the two.” He was shaken, unmoving from Romelle’s figure, “Romelle you have to listen to yourself. You don’t even know what you’re saying.”

“I do know.” Romelle pulled on her hair some more, “Everything could have ended then and there. We could be in prison right now and nobody is worrying about it. We have to find a way to protect ourselves, even if it means making people disappear. It’s the only way we’ll be able to fight against everyone. Nothing else will work.”

“Romelle.” Lance placed a hand on her shoulder, hesitant to do it, but he pushed himself to, “You need to calm down. This isn’t you talking.” He lowered his gaze, remembering the horrified look she gave him back when he made Sendak’s arm disappear, “You were scared, I get that. We need to calm down and think about this. There _are_ ways we can protect ourselves, and coming here is one of them. We don’t need to resort to taking lives.”

The blonde girl shook her head, turning away to look at the ground. The situation was dire and sometimes she felt like she was the only one who understood. She knew it wasn’t the case but she knows that more can be done for them to protect themselves. She’s the best example of that. She was scared and shocked, and hadn’t done _anything_ to help Lance. She was… useless.

Romelle felt tears at the edges of her eyes, bringing her hands up to brush them away, “I’m scared, Lance. I want to protect us all but it’s just so hard sometimes. We have the entire city as our enemy and it’s not an easy foe to beat. We’ve come close to being exposed multiple times but this was one of the scariest encounters, if not the most horrific one. They were _so close_.”

Lance bit his bottom lip, reaching out to embrace the girl tightly. She accepted the gesture, leaning into the touch, “It’s okay to be scared, I am too. This’ll all be over soon, I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.” Romelle sobbed, “Everything is far from okay.”

“Yeah.” Lance couldn’t deny it because it was the truth. He let his gaze fall again, so sick of all this, “I’ve been hiding for my entire life.” He spoke softly, “I’d like to think that one day I can walk down the street without worrying that someone will recognise me and drag me into a lab.”

Romelle couldn’t say anything to that, knowing that the probability of that was low. The truth was that Lance may never get his freedom, but it wasn’t like she would say it out loud. What kind of a person would she be then?

“Nobody would be out looking for me and I’d be free to go wherever I want.” Lance tried to imagine it, “And I wouldn’t have any of these powers. I’d be an ordinary kid, born into society like everyone else. Maybe I’d have a job? An actual job, not living off of Allura.” It was nice to imagine, “And maybe I’d meet you all in another way. The younger me would meet Keith while playing on the street or through a game, and I’d meet you and Allura somewhere outside. Maybe a shopping center? Maybe the mall? We all love to shop.”

“Yeah we do.” A small smile appeared on Romelle’s face, “Shopping is our thing.”

“A mall then.” Lance agreed, “Maybe I’d even work there as a shopkeeper? That would be cool.”

“You’d get bored of it easily.” Romelle huffed, “There are cooler jobs out there.”

“Maybe.” The other sighed, “I wouldn't mind it though. It’d still be better than this.” The only thing he wouldn’t want to change was the people he met in this reality. He’d want to meet Keith all the same, as well as Uncle Sam, Coran, Allura, and Romelle too. They were people he couldn’t replace and ones he couldn’t go without.

It was all a fantasy to help his mind drift away from the thoughts plaguing his head recently. He’s different from everyone else, and the truth of his world was very different from the one he imagined in his dreams. He had all these powers and he had the ability to do abnormal things.

He was far from being an ordinary boy, working in a clothing store at the mall.

Romelle moved an inch, looking up at his face worriedly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn't have come here like that. I didn’t want to dump my worries on you like this but I was just… just…”

“That’s fine.” Lance dismissed it, the downed look still on his face.

“Lance.” Romelle spoke to gain his attention, “I’m so sorry for reacting the way I did. You were hurt. I know you wouldn’t have harmed me. I was just taken aback and-”

“It’s fine.” He dismissed this too, “You were scared just like I was. I don’t blame you for anything.”

“But I do. I feel terrible about it. I’m so sorry Lance.” Romelle moved closer again, hugging him tightly, “My resolve is stronger than ever now. I won’t break like that again.”

The tanned boy didn’t really want to argue so he ended up agreeing, “Alright.” He said, eyes lowered, “And I’m sorry for scaring you in the first place.”

“It’s not your fault.” Romelle huffed at that, “You used your powers to get away. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Lance didn’t say anything, blue orbs moving to look at his hand. It made him wonder if there was more to this power that he didn’t know about. What if instead of disintegrating arms, he could actually use his power for something better? Romelle came in with an idea, and while she was a mess, she did have a point.

The problem is that Lance was scared of using it, has been all these years. Truthfully, he practiced a bit but never fully went out of his comfort zone to try new things. His powers reminded him of the facility, so he never liked using them. Now, however, his thoughts about it have changed.

The facility gave him this power and it’s his now. He should use it instead of holding back. If it’s these powers that are ruining his life, then he should at least make good use of them. “Would you train with me?” Lance answered Romelle’s previous question, succeeding in gaining her attention. This time she was surprised, blinking up at him.

“You want to train?” She asked carefully.

“Yeah.” Lance nodded, “You said that it would make things easier for us and… I think you’re right. If we use it, we might be able to escape. We have to be ready for anything.”

“You weren’t comfortable with the idea a moment ago.” Romelle crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I wasn’t...but you had a few good points.” Lance rubbed his wrist lightly, grinning at the blonde, “It would be useful...but I also _should_ learn how to control it better.”

Lance waved his hands, wiggling his fingers like he was doing magic, “Not being able to control it well...that’s what got Keith exposed, and that’s how I ended up doing a lot more damage to the blackmarket than I thought. Like...I had training back in the lab, but that’s clearly not enough. I need to be able to control it better for when I _have_ to use it.”

“It might not come to that.” Romelle frowned.

“It already kind of has.” Lance reminds her, “Keith has to use it a _lot_ from what we’ve seen. And now we’re on the run too. We’re safe, safer than Keith anyway, but I should still be ready just in case. I would rather be able to control it and not need it than need it and not have control.”

Romelle hummed thoughtfully, a single finger finding its way to her chin, “So other than pushing out waves and making arms disappear what _can_ you do.”

That was a good question. There were a lot of things he could theoretically do, but what he could actually accomplish was different. “Well..from the way Uncle Sam used to explain it Keith and I move the dark matter particles around us. But...it’s like we’re working with a mass that doesn’t work like normal mass? Because it’s invisible and doesn’t work with the electromagnetic spectrum? I didn’t get that part, but what I do get is that we have the ability to gather the particles into one area and concentrate these particles, and they allow us to manipulate and accelerate mass. Something about being able to push gravitational forces in one direction. I don’t know, Keith and I kind of had to figure out different things from there.”

“I...think I understand.” Romelle frowned, “So you’re just pulling gravity into one spot and making it do things? How do you do that teleporting thing then?”

“I don’t know. Keith was the one who figured that one out.” Lance frowned, “Something about making our weight go away and then riding a giant blob? I just watched him do it and did it myself. It’s...like charging forward on a blobby horse made of gravity I think?”

“So you’re just making gravity all messed up?” Romelle frowned again, looking confused. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes and looking frustrated, “Alright. Forget the theoretical stuff; what do you _know_ you can do?”

“Well…” Lance licked his lip, trying to think back to the time in the lab. They’d only been cleared for training for a year or so before Uncle Sam busted them out, and a lot of it was trial and error, but there _was_ progress. “I can lift things?”

Romelle nodded, “Right. Gravity, push and pull, makes sense. How much?”

“Not a lot.” Lance frowned, “I needed to practice for heavier and heavier objects. I had just gotten to lifting, I think a hundred pounds? But we got out before I could lift something heavier.” 

Lance rolled his eyes upward, thinking, “There’s also this thing I figured out where I just sort of shoot things? Like…a giant sphere or something? We almost critically injured the guy overseeing us that way. That was pretty draining though, I was exhausted. Keith loved that one though because knights liked spheres. He said we should try making arrows instead, but we got out before we could try.”

“Gravity arrows.” Romelle’s lips quirked.

“Yeah.” Lance smiled fondly, “Keith always had the weirdest ideas for what we could do. I just wanted to be a wizard like in the stories. I was the one who figured out we could pick up stuff because I wanted to be a wizard, and Keith figured out how to warp because he wanted to fly like a dragon.”

“That’s adorable.” Romelle giggled softly, eyes crinkling at the more innocent reasons behind what they could do. Lance smiled as well, choosing to focus on the good rather than the bad.

“Keith also figured out we could make people get stuck in one place for a little bit.” Lance continued, smiling widely at the reminder, “He stuck me to the floor because we were playing a game once.”

“How long were you stuck?” Romelle was still smiling.

“Not long. Like I said, this stuff needs practice. It’s like...we need to know how much to move and leave somewhere or how hard to push or pull something.” Lance scratched his head, “Like...it’s like exercising. You gotta practice a lot before the muscle is built up and you can do it instinctively or harder or longer or whatever.”

“Doesn’t sound that hard.” At least from what Romelle was hearing, “We don’t have anything to do anyway so why don’t we begin? Unless you’re not up to it.”

Lance was about to agree but then he remembered the look on Romelle’s face right after he destroyed Sendak’s arm. It made him shiver, looking down at his hands worriedly. This power was dangerous and could kill but he wanted to learn how to use it.

If he does, then his chances of escape are higher. Not to mention that it would help him find Keith. If he knew how to use warp in the colosseum that day he would have been with Keith right now this very moment. Everyone wants him for his power and what good is it to him if he doesn’t use it?

“Okay.” Lance agreed, hopping off the bed and stretching himself, “It’s better than staying in bed all day anyway.”

“Exactly.” Romelle agreed as they both made their way to the training room. It was empty but Lance preferred it this way. He’d only need to gather a few things to help him because he didn’t want to risk hurting Romelle. Not after what happened with Sendak.

“Let’s get a few books from the library. They’ll be my targets.” Lance told the girl, turning to head to the library instead.

“I knew you were never into books but destroying them like this? You heathen.” The blonde teased but didn’t have any other complaints.

“Hey! I loved to read!” As a little kid he was reading all the time with Keith, “It’s just that after discovering holoscreens and movies, my preferences of the medium have changed.”

“So you’re more of a visual person.”

“Yep.” Lance nodded, reaching the library as they both began collecting books to use as targets. Hopefully Lotor wouldn’t mind them doing this, but it wasn’t like Lance cared if he did. He needs to master his powers now more than ever. His life may very well depend on it.

Romelle was still hesitant to touch any books that looked _too_ valuable though, so they settled on what they assumed were the cheaper and more replaceable books. Luckily Coran wasn’t actually there at the moment, probably out with Allura, so the process of picking their victims was much quicker without the man _insisting_ that this particular book was just too precious for their plans. There weren’t even _that_ many books, they only needed a few. He was just starting out after all, so it was easy to carry the small stacks back to the training room and lay them down on the floor.

It was then and only then that they stumbled a bit.

“Uhhh.” Lance scratched the back of his head, staring at the books on the floor, “I...guess I’ll just start lifting them one at a time?”

Romelle tilted her own head, trying to figure out the situation herself, “Should you...throw them around? Make them do circles?”

Lance shrugged, focusing his blue eyes on the books and trying to concentrate. Let’s see, to pick stuff up when he was little he usually pointed at what he wanted and thought really hard about making it lighter. Uncle Sam always said that he was “making the gravity go away”.

The book he was concentrating on began to dimly glow a dull white. The book lifted, slowly, lazily, just floating into the air like Lance remembered.

“You did it!” Romelle cheered, throwing her arms in the air, “Can you move it?”

“I think I can pull it towards me.” Lance stated, trying to remember what he did for that. He sort of pulled it, like with an invisible rope? Yeah, that was it. He kept his hand out, focusing on the book as it suddenly launched itself at the two of them. They yelped, jumping out of the way, but the book only swerved to follow Lance and whacked against his hand. The brunette forgot to close his fingers, a little too distracted by the mild pain, and lost focus, dropping it to the floor.

“Ouch! Quiznak!” Lance quickly raised his hand up, blowing on it to try and minimise the pain. It hurt which was no surprise by how fast the book threw itself at them. Maybe he’d put in too much force? Yeah, that must have been it.

“Are you okay!?” Romelle quickly approached him, worriedly looking him over, “We almost got killed by a book!”

“I know! Man, that would have been the lamest way to go.” The brunette huffed, holding onto his poor hand.

“Some say that literature kills them but in our case it would have literally killed us.” Romelle sighed, tilting her head to the side to look at the object, “It was a first try. There’s no other way to go about this other than through trial and error.”

Just like in the lab, “Quiznak. I wish I would have known more about this.” But it’s been twelve years and he was only a kid. He should be grateful that he remembers anything at all. Well, not like this was going to demoralise him.

Lance stood up, Romelle following suit as they turned to the book again. “Today will be a long day.” Lance noted as he stretched his other hand, focusing on the book again, “You better go out and watch if you’re gonna be here with me Romelle. It’ll take a while.”

“And let you die of books? No way.” The blonde stood firmly in place, “I have to be here to treat you, since I know that you’ll be smacked some more.”

“Such little faith.” The brunette huffed, “This is nothing. I’ll master this in a minute and then we can get to another technique. Just you wait and see.”

“Didn’t you say that this was like exercising a muscle?” Romelle raised an eyebrow at him, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward to study him critically, “You should probably spend the whole day working on this one technique and not start anything new until tomorrow.”

“Nahhh.” Lance waved her off, “Give me ten minutes tops!”

“You said you needed to practice!” Romelle pointed at him accusingly, her cheeks puffing out, “Besides! I wanna see you float a whole bookshelf! It’s going to take more than ten minutes to do that!” 

That caused Lance to pause, considering for a moment, before a wide grin spread across his face, “What are the chances we could get Lotor to give us one of those test dummies they use for car crashes?”

Romelle blinked in confusion for a moment before a wide grin spread across her own face.

Oh, the fun they were about to have.

 

* * *

 

Lotor was rarely thrown off by things. He liked to think of himself as sort of a clever tactician, able to see all possible outcomes of his strategies and every wrench that could be thrown in his careful planning.

Allura being declared a terrorist and state traitor had certainly thrown his plans off rail.

It seemed District Six was already reeling from the news. There were protests being subdued in the streets, some riots, general chaos as police and sentries alike quickly put down the protesters and placed them all under arrest. It was a shame, but anyone who started protesting from there on, even peacefully, was declared a traitor themselves.

It was disgusting, but he was prepared for it. Mayhaps not for Allura in particular, but he was prepared.

“You’ll need to remain hidden for at _least_ the next week before we even consider going outside, even in disguise.” Lotor murmured, riffling through his desk, “And even then I would caution that you only leave if it is an absolute emergency and there are no other options. Things like shopping for food, gathering information outside, or contacting employees will be done either by my generals or any discreet team of yours I can let into the mansion.”

“Of course.” Allura nodded, her attention steady. She clasped her hands, bowing her head the slightest bit, “I cannot thank you enough for this Lotor.”

“Think nothing of it.” Lotor waved off, “Anything you need is yours, I’ll have my generals or other trusted servants fetch it. My... governess, Dayak, has been informed that you should receive nothing but the best care and will go above and beyond for your needs.”

“Thank you Lotor.” She thanked him again with a smile, “I really don’t think that I’ll be able to repay you for this. If it weren’t for you we’d be under government custody this very moment.” The three of them would have been taken to prison and Lance… She didn’t want to think about it.

“Anything for you Allura.” Lotor leaned back in his chair, hands in front of him, “But now that we’ve settled on your stay, I think it’s time we talk about this Lance.”

Allura’s smile fell, feeling the change in the air. She observed Lotor closely as he turned in his chair to look out the window, looking out towards the vast landscape, “I’d been researching biotics for more than a year now but I’ve just found out more information about them. Their very existence is one of the most guarded government secrets.” He turned back to Allura, “Now that I have one within my mansion, I’d like to use the opportunity to study him.”

“And what does that entail?” Allura asked carefully, aware of the position she was in. She trusted Lotor but it was this moment that would really test that trust. After all, if Lotor so wished, he could expose them right here and now. It wouldn’t take long for Zarkon to find out where they were, considering that Lotor is his son. Then again… It was unlikely since Lotor never saw eye to eye with his father.

Still, the position she was in wasn’t favourable at all, “I won’t let you hurt Lance in any way.”

“I wouldn’t hurt him.” Lotor sounded somewhat sincere about that and Allura wanted to believe that he was, “If you all cooperate with me, we can uncover the secrets behind the biotics together. I’ve always sought knowledge and had the passion to explore the unknown. However, unlike my father, I won’t use force to get what I want. I believe in mutual cooperation more than anything."

Allura listened carefully, her full attention on Lotor, “And what would you like to do?” She leaned forward, leaning her hands against the table in front of her, “How would you like to _study_ him?”

“We have already discussed this Allura.” Lotor sighed, placing his hands against the table, “I told you, in your own office just yesterday if you remember, that I would use strictly observational methods. X-rays, video footage, psychological evaluation, basic medical examinations to see if the body is healthy after biotic usage. I’m not a _savage_ Allura, else you wouldn’t _be_ here.”

The room was tense now, heavy in a way she wasn’t used to with Lotor. He seemed offended, genuinely offended, with white knuckles clutching tightly against his desk. His face was set in a firm line, “But your lack of trust has been noted. I’ll be sure to stay away from Lance while I hide you from the government.”

Allura unbristled, deflating just a bit, and was perhaps a bit humbled by his words and the genuine anger he showed. She’d seen him angry before, and knew he was holding back right now, understandable. They have had this conversation before, before he had even known Lance was in her custody. She sighs, the anger leaving her now, “Forgive me. It has been a long day, and I’m afraid I am very defensive of Lance.” 

“Understandable.” Lotor looks away, “Or at least I assume so. I can’t claim to know your relationship, but I do acknowledge that yesterday was stressful for you.”

“Yesterday?” Allura jerked up, “What time is it?”

“Very early in the morning now.” Lotor informed curtly, pulling up a holoscreen to show her the time, date, and weather patterns, “We’ve been working for hours. Mayhaps our frayed tempers are the result of over exertion. It would be best if we took time away from this and explore your new accommodations and rest.”

Lotor stands then, a bit more distant than before, bowing his head, “You’re free to walk any parts of the places I marked as safe. Please tell a guard if you plan to leave the safe spaces so that they may be of assistance.”

With that he turned on his heel and walked away, only stopping once he reached the door. He didn’t turn to face her, but he did leave with parting words, “I won’t come near the safe spaces. Have a good night Allura.”

And then he walked away.

 

* * *

 

 _Click_.

 _Click_.

 _Click_.

Pidge kept pressing the refresh button on her holoscreen in hopes that a new email would appear. So far nothing was coming up and it made her feel all sorts of ways. Mostly irritated and angered at her own useless state but also worried about both Lance and Keith.

With Keith they could move forward, but now that he was gone they were at a standstill. To put it simply, they were wanted and _useless_ at the same time. Keith was what they needed to protect but he was also the leading factor. Without him, they’d just crumble away. Why? Because all they could do was wait for a petty email, desperate and anxious.

Although Pidge refused to give in, looking up the rebel databases and websites to find anything useful. Maybe someone managed to spot Keith somewhere on the streets if he escaped. Information like that was sure to be on rebel websites. No matter how different they all were, they still liked to share information like this between one another. Call it a network of sorts.

But as the hours passed Pidge couldn’t find anything. It was as if Keith disappeared from the face of the Earth. He was nowhere to be seen, no reported sightings by the rebels. Fear that he may have been caught by the government crept in but she pushed it away in favour of focusing on her task of finding him.

Keith wasn’t captured. He wouldn’t let himself be taken like that. Pidge drilled this into her brain, continuing to work on finding him. She had a number of holoscreens in front of her, some dedicated to searching for Keith while others focused on Lance.

Just like Keith, Lance was nowhere to be seen. Both he and Allura disappeared without a trace, and if the security cameras were anything to go by then it seemed like their car cloaked itself. But even that wouldn’t last them long which meant that they had to settle somewhere.

But where would that be? Where would someone as big as Allura hide? She didn’t know, annoying her further. At least her frustration kept her worries and fears away.

“Fuck. We’re not getting anywhere.” She hissed, staring holes into the holoscreen. “We might be wasting our time here.”

Matt worriedly looked over at her, seated in his own chair and looking at his own screens, “It’d make no difference if we went outside. The best we can do right now is to search for Keith online or wait for Lance’s email. We have no other choice.”

“So we’ve come to a dead end.” The girl hissed, “What if the kidnappers already contacted Lance about Keith? What if they’re already together and we don’t know about it? We wouldn’t know shit Matt and it drives me insane.”

“I know.” Her brother reached out to pat her on the shoulder, “But at least we’re not as bad as that guy over there.” He pointed to Shiro who was seated on the couch, unmoving from his spot. He kept staring into the ground, as if it held all of the answers of the world’s greatest mysteries within it. He was in deep thought, or maybe he was out of it? Pidge didn’t really know and she was afraid to ask.

“You know this is our fault, right?” She turned to Matt, “We suggested that we should leave the house. If we didn’t do that then Keith would still be with us. God… What if he’s under a knife Matt? What if they’re torturing him?”

“Keith is tough.” Matt tried to assure, both Pidge as well as himself, “He wouldn’t fall like that. It’ll take something much bigger to take him down. He’s the second best fighter after Shiro.”

“Well… How come he got kidnapped then? He should have beaten up anyone easily if we follow your logic.” The girl narrowed her eyes, “And I know we were in the dark but it still counts. We weren’t prepared for an attack in the dark. Fuck. We were exposed and vulnerable. It’s no wonder they took Keith, whoever they were.” Pidge paused for a second, “They could have been hunters. They might have caught our trail and followed us into the tunnels. The probability is high.”

Matt didn’t want to admit it but it sounded like the most likely scenario, “We should focus on monitoring the websites.” Instead he turned back to his screen, “New information is popping up every minute.”

“So you think it might have been a hunter as well.” But Pidge wouldn’t let him brush her off, “Fuck. What if they’re handing him over to the government? What if they already did?” She let herself slump against her chair, the fear suddenly overtaking her, “We lost him.”

“Pidge…” Matt turned in his chair full now, pushing himself closer to embrace her from behind. He held onto her tightly, leaning against the back of her chair with his arms around her, “We can’t lose hope. If we give up now, we’ll never be able to find him again.”

“Say that he’s not in the labs right now Matt. Come on, say it.” Pidge bit, feeling her eyes swell. The reality of the situation became heavier and heavier, crushing her hopes further as time went by.

 _Tick_.

 _Tock_.

The sound of the clock was constant and yet she couldn’t find it in herself to turn it on silent mode. The sound grounded her, kept her focused. But now, she felt like she had reached her limit.

“Look.” Matt tried again, ‘We’ll-” He was interrupted when a sound suddenly came from Pidge’s screen, indicating that they’d received a new email. Never in her life did Pidge push herself as quickly as she did now, practically throwing her upper body and a part of her head past the screen before straightening up.

The email was from an anonymous sender, someone who had managed to hide their own address. It didn’t have a subject either, empty apart from a single video file that was attached to it.

This was it. They were finally getting a lead.

Pidge didn’t wait, she eagerly clicked on the link, careless and not worrying about any viruses that may come. She was desperate for answers, absolutely anything that could lead her to Keith. A window popped up, a video feed playing as soon as the page was done loading.

There was Keith, relatively unharmed, pacing in a dimly lit room over and over again, occasionally stopping to poke at a wall or tug at his hair. There were no wounds that she could see, and his clothes hadn’t been swapped with a hospital gown or anything. It wasn’t _good_ to see him locked up in a room, but the fact he wasn’t harmed was more than she could have hoped for.

There was text under the video feed.

_Holt,_

_Keith Kogane is safe within our care. We will not let the government capture him._

_Do not try to track this email, you’ll find it is of no use._

_If you wish to join Keith then respond to this email for details._

_The Blade._

Beneath this text was a picture, an image of that Shiro double, his brother Sven, sitting front and center. He was smiling, waving his hand with careless ease, right next to what seemed to be a sleeping Keith tucked into bed, the blankets pulled up to his chin. Underneath the picture was yet more text.

_Yoohoo~_

_It is me! Sven! I’m here with Keith! I’m so sorry about all this! The Blade is so silly sometimes. Honestly, this must have given you a heart attack! It certainly gave me one when I found out they kidnapped him!_

_I had hoped I would get to meet Keith and Shiro under better circumstances, but I suppose it can't be helped!_

_Keith is safe, but he misses you guys! He hasn’t stopped talking about you and wanting to find you since he got here! He even tried to escape. You should meet us so he doesn't do anything reckless!_

_Love and kisses,_

_Sven._

“Keith is safe.” Matt breathed out in relief, “Oh god… The government didn’t get him.”

“Who the fuck are these people? And why is that Shiro double there?” Pidge was relieved to see Keith was unharmed but she was still in panic mode. They knew who kidnapped him, well, kind of… but they knew nothing about these people.

What were their goals?

What did they want from them?

As far as first impressions went, they didn’t seem to be working with the government, otherwise Keith would have been sent to the labs already. They decided to contact them for some reason which was a sign that they were willing to cooperate. No wait, this might just be a message to let them know that Keith was okay. But why go through such lengths?

“Keith.” The two Holt siblings looked back, spotting Shiro behind them, staring into the screen. His eyes were on Keith’s sleeping form on the bed, examining him for any injuries. Luckily there didn’t seem to be any, “He’s not injured.”

“He doesn’t seem to be.” Matt agreed, “But Sven is sitting next to him. Is Keith a heavy sleeper?”

“No.” And that was what confused him, “Keith would never be able to sleep like that. He can sense when people are around him, even when he sleeps. He just _knows_.” Which meant that Keith must really be out of it not to notice.

Shiro clenched his hands, “We’re sending them a reply.”

“Of course.” The girl began typing on her holoscreen, preparing a reply, “We’ll demand that they take us to Keith.”

“Whoa! Wait a second!” Matt stopped his sister from doing anything just yet, “You two need to calm down. We’re not in a position where we can make demands. They have Keith, which means that we’ll have to approach this carefully.”

“You’re right.” Shiro agreed. He took in a calming breath, trying to steady himself and shake off the panic, “We’ll have to approach this calmly.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Pidge adjusted her glasses, folding her arms and expectantly waiting for Matt and Shiro’s answer. The oldest of them stood still, carefully trying to think about the issue at hand.

From what he could see Keith was safe, at least for now. He was unconscious which was concerning but unharmed. If the kidnappers… Sven or… The Blades? Wanted to remain anonymous, they wouldn’t have sent this message.

They have to have a motive for contacting them. Was it to help Keith? No, it would be strange for them to do that. Kindness like this didn’t come free. There was a catch here and Shiro didn’t like it.

Still, they had to get to Keith. They had to reach him before these people decided to cut contact with them. “We’ll request a meeting.” Shiro decided, looking down at the two siblings, “We’ll ask for them to meet us and take us to Keith. We’d be turning ourselves in, but we have no other choice.”

The two remained quiet for a second before Matt spoke, “It may be the only option we have.” He agreed with Shiro, “But instead of all of us going, we should split up. Pidge and I are already on their radar so they’ll know if one of us decides to bail out. It’d be best if the three of us go while Hunk and Shay stay here.”

“I could stay as well.” Pidge suggested, trying to keep cool, “You and Shiro can go and I can monitor you from up here. We have chips that should be able to track you even in another country or to the other end of the Earth. Once you go in, I’ll be able to tell their exact location on the GPS.”

“That would be risky.” Shiro was unsure, “It’s safe to assume that they would expect this if you don’t come with us. They seem to know their way around technology.”

“Nobody can beat me in my own game.” Pidge narrowed her eyes, “Even if I go with you, Hunk and Shay will be able to monitor us. I have my ways gentlemen, trust me, with the tracker I have they won’t even know we have them on us.”

“They seem to know about us.” Shiro eyed the email cryptically, “Are you sure?”

“I haven’t been beaten yet.” Pidge nods firmly, hitting reply. She starts typing, refusing to send a video or audio file for this. Instead she simply requests a meeting, expressing their willingness to cooperate so long as they and Keith were unharmed and they could see him. She sends it without asking for the others’ input, knowing they’d be stupid about the whole thing.

“I’m going to send an email to Lance.” Pidge sighs, “Just in case they finally check our old one.”

“Good idea.” Matt shrugs, “No need to worry the shit out of them when they’re on the run as well.”

Pidge nods, opening another email and entered the email address they’d been using to contact Lance, she typed this one as well, not wanting to bother with the audio again.

_Have found out who took Keith in the underground. Not government._

_No idea who they are, call themselves “The Blade”._

_Have set up meeting with them to let two of our group go to Keith. Have video of him that makes him seem safe._

_Fucking respond because I’m stressed as shit._

_Pidge/Katie Holt._

“That should do it. Now we wait for their response.” Matt slumped against his chair, tension as high as ever, “I’ve never felt this useless in my entire life.”

“Tell me about it.” Pidge hissed, “It’s killing me on the inside.”

“At least now we know that Keith is safe. It’s strange that the kidnappers would contact us like this.” It was puzzling, considering they had nothing to gain from their little group, “Would we be of use to them?” He asked curiously, depending on the others in case he missed something.

The two turned to him, heads tilted to the side as they thought of Shiro’s question. The man had a point but they couldn’t think of an answer, “Other than them being sympathetic, I don’t see a reason as to why they would contact us. I honestly thought they’d contact Lance first but… Wait, they could have.” Then it hit her, “What if he’s not replying because he’s in touch with them?”

“What if Lance and Allura are with Keith right now? He’s on the run but it doesn’t look like the government got him. It’s a possibility we have to keep on the table.” Matt tapped his fingers against the surface of the table, unsure, “Either way, there is more going on here than meets the eye.”

“Fuck.” Pidge began pulling the ends of her hair, “Keith and Lance could be together right now and I’m here? And if they are, what would those _Blades_ want? I never heard about them before.”

“Neither have I. They must be a secretive group.” Matt noted, “I doubt they’re rebels otherwise we would have known about them.”

“So they’re a group separated from the rebels and the government.” Shiro had his arms folded in front of him, eyes moving to look at the screen showing the news, “If they’re a group we don’t know about it’ll be harder for us to guess their motives or goals. We have to proceed with caution, Matt.”

“Of course,” he agreed just as a beep sounded, signifying that a new message arrived. Pidge’s eyes spotted the email at the top instantly, recognising it as the one the Blades sent. It was them.

She clicked the link without hesitation. There was only one sentence in the whole email, short and simple.

_District 5 underground entrance between the rails at midnight tonight._

“Welp.” Pidge clicked her tongue, “We have our meeting.”

 

* * *

 

The first thing Keith registered when he woke up was the pain in his shoulder. The second thing he registered was the sheer soreness of the rest of his body. He immediately regretted waking up and tried to fall back asleep, never even trying to open his eyes. It didn’t work, but damn if he didn’t try to pretend.

Still, the longer he laid there the worse the pain got. He wished he had some pills, some painkillers wouldn’t be bad right now. Anything to get the throbbing to stop. He groaned, giving up on fake sleep and cracking open his eyes.

“You’re awake!” A voice spoke, delighted. Keith’s blurry vision focused on the Shiro double, Sven he remembers, Shiro’s older half brother.

“Ugh.” Keith managed to get out blearily.

“Regris accidentally shot you. He got into a lot of trouble for it.” Sven spoke, reaching over to a side table and dumping what looked like pills from it. “Painkillers!”

Keith was so grateful that he didn’t even think twice about taking them. Worst they could do was knock him out, right? He didn’t give a shit right now, anything to make the pain stop. Sven pushed a hand to the back of the younger boy’s head, tilting it up and holding a glass of water to his lips. Keith drank greedily, taking large gulps until the glass was empty.

“You gave us a scare!” Sven spoke, “Krolia was beside herself! The Slavs had to be called down to reinforce the room, and Ulaz had to stitch you up!”

“Ugh.” Keith tried again.

“I know.” Sven nodded, “It was a mess.” 

Keith didn’t bother saying anything else but let out a grumble, showing that he wasn’t feeling that well. He was too out of it to really focus on where he was or why Sven was here. Everything hurt and the numbness in his body prevented him from moving from his spot on the bed. He was in a bed, right? Yeah, it felt like it.

“Don’t worry little one, we’ll help get you back on your feet again.” Sven’s voice was ever cheerful, looking down at the pained patient, “You might be too tired to ask but we’re in the med room. Luckily it’s built with the same material as your cell so you won’t be able to use your powers in here. If you did, it would cause more damage than anything.”

Keith let out another grumble, raising his hand to lean it against his forehead. The painkillers would take a minute to kick in.

“Is there anything you need? Just let me know and I’ll bring it.” Sven hummed, picking up a bag that was next to the bed, “Slav told me a lot about you. He said that you and Lance were the cutest of kids, but he also said that you didn’t have that many toys growing up.”

Keith opened his eyes when he felt the man place something beside him, a plush toy, “I’ll make up for it now. I know you’re a… teen now? But it’s never too late for toys. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“W-What are you doin-” Keith tried, watching as the man placed more plushies around him. He stopped when a seventh plushie was placed beside him, Sven looked down at him with a smile on his face.

“You can keep them all. To make it even better, you can name them.” Sven picked up a hippo plushie, raising it up so that Keith could look at it, “Aren’t they adorable?

Keith turned his head a bit, coming face to face with a plush turtle and owl, the two plushies sitting side by side with what Keith guessed was a penguin just out of the corner of his eye. The beady little eyes stared longfully at him, and shit, they were sort of cute.

“Yeah.” He nodded, turning his head back and letting himself stare at the hippo plush. He loved hippos, he _really_ loved hippos, “They are. Hippos are my favorite.”

Sven beamed down at him, immediately tucking the hippo right beside Keith’s neck, “Then this hippo shall be your greatest companion! Your champion! You must name them well!”

This fucking guy... he was just like Shiro at his dorkiest, except he seemed to be this way all the time. It was hard not to find him endearing, even if he seemed to be involved with this sketchy as fuck situation. To be fair, it was hard to hate anyone that looked like Shiro too. Maybe Keith had some kind of instinctive trust ingrained or something? Shiro and all Shiro look alikes were instantly trusted?

“Thanks Sven.” Keith gave a weak smile, “I’ll name it.”

Sven only beamed harder, looking over the moon, “Wonderful!”

The older man is leaning against the bed now, grinning down at Keith, “I had hoped we would get to meet in a better way, but it’s wonderful to finally meet up! I can’t wait to meet Shiro too! Oh, this is wonderful!”

“You seem happy.” Keith spoke, his voice was still a bit raspy, “I didn’t think you would be so happy to meet us when Pidge told me who you were.”

“Oh! So you know! Fantastic! I don’t have to explain then!” Sven grinned, waving a hand, “I’m not resentful at all, I figured mama had a good reason for leaving. Father was…”

Sven seemed to trail off a bit here, trying to think of a word that would fit, then finally seemed to decide on something, “...cultish. He was cultish. I don’t blame her for escaping. She probably couldn’t take me.”

“You’re from a cult?” Keith raised an eyebrow, bewildered.

“Not anymore.” Sven shrugged, “The Blade found me and offered me a position and I took it. I think auntie Krolia may have done it as a favor to mama.”

“Well... that explains a lot.” Keith winces a bit, not sure what to say about any of that, so he decides to talk about something else, “Shiro was really worried when he found out that Aki had abandoned you.”

Sven waved the comment off, “I wouldn’t say she _abandoned_ me. It was a funky situation. Besides, I got out too!”

“As long as you’re not mad.” Keith says slowly, “I don’t know what I would do if I had a mom and she was forced to leave me somewhere. Makes me think I was lucky to be a test tube baby.”

“Oh… haha.. ha…” Sven chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck, “I’m sure that if you had a mom, she would be happy to see you! She’d be over herself to see you again!”

Keith frowned at that, looking at the hippo next to him, “It’s something I don’t have to worry about since I don’t have one.” His eyes moved onto Sven again, “It’s useless to think about something you don’t have.”

“R-Really?” Keith noted the strange change in his behaviour but he didn’t think twice about it. He barely knew the man and his head was still hurting, “But what if you had a mum? Would you be happy to see her?”

“If?” Keith would rather prefer ignoring the man altogether but it was his resemblance to Shiro that made a difference. He tried to think about it, he really did, but he couldn’t really decide on it, “I don’t know. I can’t say.”

Sven hummed at that, leaning his upper body and leaning his hands against the end of the bed, “Well! Life is full of surprises! Just like these plushies! Did you decide on any names yet?”

Keith kept looking at him, unsure to make of his words. He let it pass this time though, too tired to think too deeply into this, “Not yet.”

“That’s okay. You can take your time then.” Sven assured with a smile on his face, “I was assigned to help you recover. I’ll stay by your side until then. If there’s anything you need just tell me and I’ll bring it.”

“Thanks.” Keith breathed, closing his eyes tiredly, “I’d like to rest.”

“Alright.” Sven moved away to give Keith space, remaining seated on his chair, “Nobody will touch you while you’re asleep. I’ll make sure of it, I promise.”

The black haired boy hummed, eyes fully closed. He wanted to give into sleep but his situation was eating away at him. He wished he had the strength to get the answers he wanted, to know what was going on around him.

Why did he run away?

Who was that woman in the room with him?

What did their organisation want?

Did they know about him? They probably do…

What are their goals?

Is Shiro here?

There was so, _so_ , much he wanted to know, “Why did you-” Keith asked softly before the opening of the door interrupted him. He fought the tiredness he felt to open one of his eyes, spotting the new person in the room.

It was that same woman he was with just before he ran away. She was here, walking up to the bed to stand next to Sven, looking down at him with a different expression than she had before, “I see you’re awake.”

“He just woke up.” Sven let her know, “But he’s still too tired to do anything but lay on the bed.”

“I got shot.” Keith groaned, closing his eyes a bit and turning his face to bury it in the plushie. The painkillers had numbed his shoulder a bit, but he was familiar enough with wounds to know better than to move right now, “Sue me.”

“You shouldn’t have run.” The woman frowned, staring at his shoulder with clouded eyes, “It was foolish for you to do.”

“Sorry I wanted to get away from my kidnappers and find my friends.” Keith scoffed, unable to do anything else to prove his displeasure, “I didn’t even hurt you or anything. Why would you shoot me?”

“That was a bit of incompetence on the part of one of our younger members.” The woman frowned deeply, “He has been spoken to and punished for it.”

“Glad to see that my being shot has taught someone a valuable life lesson.” Keith muttered sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, the one thing he could still do now.

“At least you’re alright.” Sven smiled, adjusting the plushie again, “We’ll get you healed up as soon as we can! Then we’ll all be fine!”

And there he went again, being endearing, though Keith disagreed that he would even be fine with the fact that he was shot by his kidnappers. He was determined to hold a grudge on that one. Sure, he had probably knocked out a few guys, but he hadn’t _shot_ anyone.

Keith sighed, frustrated.

“I came to check on your condition.” The woman sighed as well, sitting on the edge of the bed, “Is there any pain?”

“I gave him the painkillers.” Sven informed her with a small smile.

“I’m numb and sore.” Keith replied, “That’s as good as I can get with the fact that I got _shot_.”

Krolia sighed, covering her face with one hand in frustration. She seemed to be gathering herself before moving her hand away and facing him, “I’m really sorry about that, Keith. I promise it won’t ever happen again.”

“I can’t trust your promises.” The boy shot back, “Not when you didn’t give me a choice back in the cell. You were threatening me.”

Krolia took in a deep breath, trying to approach this calmly, “And I’m sorry about that as well. We may have begun on the wrong foot but I’m hoping that you’ll give me a second chance. I should have been more considerate towards you.”

“You should have.” Keith didn’t dare nod but he agreed with her.

“Right. This is a new beginning then.” She hesitated, “Is it?”

The boy thought this over, unwilling to trust anyone but Sven right now. He didn’t trust the man fully, but he thinks there is some there. This woman and the rest of the group were different though, but Sven was with them so he was the same… Curse Sven and his resemblance to Shiro. He shouldn’t be so trusting of him either.

“I’ll give you a second chance.” Keith decided, “But no more than that.”

“Thank you.” The woman seemed a bit different now, or maybe it was just because Keith was too exhausted to register anything around him fully, “I want you to know that I’m not your enemy but rather someone who wants to help you. It might take a while for us to get there but I’ll work on changing your perspective of me.”

“Good luck then.” Keith huffed, deciding that burying his head further into the plushie was far more satisfying, “I won’t see you as anything else other than my kidnappers until I see Shiro. I need to contact him.”

“Then I have good news for you.” Krolia smiled just a bit, “We did contact him.” She pulled up a holoscreen, showing Keith the email they received not long ago, “We sent them an email and this is their response. We’ve arranged a meeting with them so you’ll be meeting your brother very soon.”

Keith’s eyes widened at that, turning back to Krolia fully, “Really?” He observed the screen. It didn’t have an email address so it couldn’t be tracked, but from what he saw, the email could have been sent by anyone. It wasn’t proof enough. If it was an audio file or maybe a video, it would be more believable. But just a text? It wasn’t enough, “I won’t trust you there, just yet.”

“That’s understandable.” Krolia acknowledged, “We’ll have to wait for our men to bring Shiro in here. Then we’ll be able to join forces and settle on a plan.”

Join forces? Does she expect them to work with her mysterious group? “I have questions.” Keith stated, “You know about me.” It wasn’t a question, maybe it was, but he asked just to be sure.

“We do. We know everything about you and Lance. The only two remaining biotics from the facility. The _only_ children that managed to survive the experiments.” Krolia lowered her head, “We _know_.”

“And that’s why you kidnapped me.” He knew it.

“Spot on!” Sven answered for her, “A lot more is at stake here than you may think. By saving you, we’re saving a whole lot of different people. Take it as a domino effect.”

“What?” Keith asked confusingly.

“It’s easy.” Sven explained, “What they want to do to you isn’t anything… pleasant. It would change our city as we know it and even the whole world. Big brother would gain in strength and we’d have government officials walking around with biotic powers trying to suppress everyone. We’d be enslaved by our own government.”

Keith didn’t say anything because he didn’t really think that far ahead. Sure he wondered what the government would want to do with him if they captured him again but apart from the endless torture, he couldn’t think of anything else. That’s where his story would end.

“Sven is right. A lot is at stake here.” Krolia agreed, eyes on Keith, “But we don’t have to think about that right now. You won’t ever get captured Keith, I’ll make sure of it. For now, we have to worry about your health.”

“No.” The boy insisted, “I’m finally getting some answers from you. I want you to tell me more. Who are you people?” His violet orbs moved to Sven and then to Krolia again, “What do you plan to do? Will you really cooperate with Shiro and the rest when they get here?” A dark thought sneaked into his thoughts, “Is this a trap to get him here? Just know that if you hurt Shiro, then I’ll hurt you.”

“Calm down Keith.” Krolia held up a hand, “If we were planning a trap for them then I would not have told you about it.”

“We’re just trying _not_ to be enslaved by the government.” Sven stated a little too happily for Keith’s personal comfort. The guy was so cheerful that Keith couldn’t help but wonder if he got it from the cult. “That would be a bad, bad, thing.”

“Yeah, that would suck.” Keith turned to stare at the ceiling, “I’ve met Zarkon and that creepy fucker has some serious control issues.”

Krolia frowned deeply, her eyebrows knitting together tightly. Sven gasped dramatically, clenching his chest like Keith had physically wounded him before choking out, “You’ve _met_ him?”

“Yeah.” Keith didn’t nod or shrug, just answered casually, “I’m not sure why you’re surprised. Zarkon was really proud of us. He used to check on us personally. Lance and I hated those days because that meant we went through extra training and examinations.”

Krolia’s lip twitched.

“Whatever.” Keith decided to change the subject, “I’m never going to see that guy again anyway.”

Sven and Krolia shared a look, but seemed to accept Keith’s words. Sven chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, “So... you seem to have fairly alright control of your biotics?”

“Aki used to let me practice in the basement.” Keith answered casually, “Only little things though, she was scared of letting me do big stuff.”

“How nice.” Sven smiled. 

“Not really.” Keith frowned at the memories. Aki and Shiro used to be so paranoid about his biotics, always ready to bolt at any moment, always scared that someone was going to show up at their door and demand they hand him over. And Aki was always stuck somewhere between wanting to encourage him to practice for his own safety and not wanting him to practice at all in case they somehow figured out how to track him.

Even going to school had been awful for all of them. 

Luckily Sven didn’t pursue this conversation despite how eager the man seemed to be for more answers. It was too bad though, because Keith really wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation about his biotics. He was tired, and numb, and he just wanted to go home. He missed Adam, and Ms Holt must have wormed her way into his heart somehow because he missed her too. He even missed Matt and Pidge at this point.

Fuck, it'd only taken a few days for him to crack. 

“I hope you’ll bear with us for the time being.” Krolia broke his train of thoughts, gaining his attention, “Treating a gunshot wound will take time but once you’re strong enough we’ll let you out of bed. Although that still depends on when Dr. Slav decides that you’re ready to walk around.”

“So you’re not giving me a choice again.” Keith sighed, eyes meeting her’s, “I’ll get up when I feel up to it.”

“And that’s fine. I just want to make sure you’re really okay before you do so.” Krolia tried, she really did, “I care about your well-being.”

The boy quirked a brow, “Wh-” The door opening prevented him from saying what he wanted to say, head tilting to the side as all three of them spotted a person in black by the door. He seemed to be wearing some kind of uniform. Maybe it was a required uniform all of the members of this group had to wear?

“Krolia, I’m sorry to disturb but we have a new development.” The man spoke, out of breath from running down the dark hallways.

“Calm down Thace. What happened?” The woman stood up, facing her companion who approached them. He eyed Keith carefully, as if unsure if he should share the news in his presence. Krolia noticed this, shaking her head, “Keith is a part of us now. You can go ahead and say what you have to say.”

“But-”

“It’s safe.” Krolia assured, “We can trust him.” She kept her ground, Thace giving into her.

“It’s Sendak. It was just announced that he became the new District Six manager.”

 

* * *

 

“Today marks the beginning of a new era. One where we’ll throw away the old and embrace the new. For years, that traitor ruled this district with a naive mindset, embracing things of the past rather than looking into the future. That, dear citizens, will now change.” Sendak announced in his TV address, facing the camera, “I swear to you, not only will I capture the criminals that deceived you all these years, but I’ll also improve your living standards. District Six will become one of the most advanced districts in the city. Under my rule, you’ll have nothing to fear.” Sendak mused, cutting the connection to let Luxia Queen handle the rest.

He sat in his office chair, a grin on his face as he looked around. Yes, there would be many, _many_ changes taking place here. But first, he had to please the president who was the one that gave him this position.

He pressed a button on his bracelet, calling in his sentries. Two of them came into the room, ready for any commands Sendak might give, “I want you to lock all of the entrances into the underground that are within District Six.” Sendak leaned his hands against the table, eyes narrowed.

“And once you’ve sealed them all, I want you to go inside and explore every inch and cranny the underground has to offer. We’ll send in an army of soldiers through each and every tunnel within the city, in cooperation with the rest of the districts. Such is the command Sire Zarkon gave us.”

“Understood.” The two sentries walked away, leaving Sendak alone once again. The man stood up, walking out of his new office. He made his way through the Alteanis mansion, now his for the taking. He could sense strong waves of dark matter throughout the building, proof that the biotic really had lived here.

The biotic that managed to destroy his arm. He’ll have to return the favour once he captures him and hands him over to Zarkon. Ohhh… That moment would be sweet.

Sendak finally made his way to the room he was aiming for, two sentries standing by each side of the door to guard it. He ignored them, passing through and making his way inside to spot one of their prisoners. A traitor that had been an accomplice in hiding the biotic from them. The head guard of Allura’s security, Hira.

“I see that you’re taking well to our methods of making you talk.” Sendak noted, taking a provoking step towards the woman. Hira had her arms chained up to a wall behind her, looking up as soon as she heard his voice, “Perhaps we’ll have to change our ways of persuasion if we want you sharing the information you know.”

“I know nothing.” Hira hissed, but as soon as she said it, she received an electronic shock, caused by a button Sendak pressed on his bracelet. She screamed out in pain, going limp as soon as the electricity ceased. She breathed heavily as Sendak hummed contently, taking a step closer and yanking her hair up so that he could see her face.

“You may be unwilling to cooperate now but eventually you’ll break, and when you do, I’ll know where that rat Allura hid.” He hissed, letting go of her harshly before taking a step back, “But if you’re unwilling to tell me where Mrs. Alteanis is, we can start with less damaging information first. We’ll work our way up.”

Sendak took a couple of provoking steps around her, examining the state of his prisoner, “Tell me about the biotic. How long did he live here?”

Hira chuckled lightly at that, “Who knows?” But then she let out a scream when another electric shock passed through her. Sendak watched her before her body went limp, the shock ceasing on his command. The woman breathed out, bearing with the pain.

Sendak didn’t stop there, continuing with his torture until she would break. It took a couple of minutes, but Hira was finally beginning to answer his questions, “T-Twelve years. He’s been here for twelve years.”

“Hmmm…” The man hummed, content now that he got his answer, “So he’s been here ever since he escaped the facility?”

“Yes.” Hira clenched her jaw and hands, hanging limply from the chains.

“Dr. Haggar and the president will be thrilled to hear about this.” Sendak noted, “Now you’ll tell me everything you know about him. Any unusual behaviour, past biotic practices or anything else you may have noticed. I want to know _everything_.”

A knock on the door gained Sendak’s attention, permitting entry as four sentries came inside, holding a large box between them, “Sir Sendak, a package from the president has arrived.” They carried the box further inside, placing it in front of Sendak who quirked a brow.

The man opened it, a large grin spreading across his face as soon as he saw what was inside. A highly advanced mechanical arm with sharp claws that was developed within the facility to allow for better tracking of the biotics.

If there was anything that would find the two lab experiments, then it would be this arm.

Sendak’s grin widened, overjoyed as he turned on the arm, connecting it to his body through the new technology made within the facility as well, allowing the arm to hover beside him instead of connecting it to himself physically.

This was it. He was a step closer to capturing both of the biotics.

“Prepare to enter the tunnels as soon as the president gives his command.” Sendak commanded with a grin, “And while we wait, I’ll get more information out of our prisoner.” Today was a very good day.

 

* * *

 

Adam had been stuck inside for days, but today felt especially dreadful.

It must have been the sleepless night, he decided as he poured another cup of coffee, or spending more time watching the news than he ever had before. He wasn’t a fan of watching _nothing_ but news, but here he was, the one left out of the loop and waiting for _something_.

And poor District Six, any changes in leadership was rough, but the Alteanis’ had been in charge for a long time and this Sendak guy seemed awful. His speech wasn’t motivating at all, and Adam had a feeling he would ruin what made people _like_ District Six in the first place. Takashi and Keith had always wanted to live in such a nice place with lots of green…

Adam sighed, rocking in his position on the couch. The District Manager had sent the police to his house again, and they were searching up and down. He’d been grilled for _everything_ he knew, but Adam had absolutely nothing. One man even punched him, decorating his brown eye with a ring of black and cracking his glasses. He was damn lucky he didn’t lose that eye.

Still, he didn’t know what they wanted to find. He really didn’t have any more idea where Keith and Takashi had gone then they did. Obviously Keith was in the underground and wasn’t coming out, and Adam certainly wasn’t about to join them down there.

It could be worse, he figures, he could be living in District Six right now.

 

* * *

 

Colleen Holt assumes the only reason she isn’t in prison right now is because of whatever respect the government tried to pretend they still had for her late husband. 

It wasn’t enough to keep her from being handcuffed to a table at the police station and awaiting interrogation. She’s been waiting for this for years now, knowing it was only a matter of time before something cracked and she was brought here. She’s been preparing herself, getting ready for the day that she would have to prove her devotion to both her husband and her children.

She thinks of baby pictures with two boys strapped down to metal tables and her resolve only strengthens further.

She doesn’t know where her children have gone, left out of the loop and left behind, but she prays to god that they have found a safe place. She wants them to leave, to escape this city and reach the countryside through the underground, to finally get outside of Zarkon’s influence and into a place with trees and freedom from this toxic control.

Colleen wishes she and Sam had stayed in Italy, but then she thinks those two boys would be dead and changes that hope to her children running away there instead.

 

* * *

 

“Ha! Ha! Tah! Take that!” Lance grinned as he swung a dummy doll from side to side, improving the control of his powers at a fast pace. He hadn’t completely perfected it, but he had much more control than before.

“Lance! Slow down! That dummy will-Oh my god! Its head came off!” Romelle yelped, ducking to evade being hit by the rogue decapitated head.

“Oops! Sorry!” The boy apologised, dropping the doll to let it rest on the ground. The thing was _torn apart_ and almost unrecognisable. Damn, he’d destroyed it beyond recognition. A part of him was proud but another part of him was scared. He imagined the doll being a real person, making a shiver run down his spine.

He tried to shake off the feeling, placing his hands on his hips, “I think I’m getting the hang of picking stuff up. I’ll need something heavier though…maybe a bookcase?”

“What!? Oh no! Nope! Bad idea!” Romelle waved her hands in the air in a definite no, “You’ll destroy the entire library.”

“Yeah but I need something heavier to pick up.” Lance frowned, tapping his foot against the floor, “How about-”

“You’re not picking me up.” Romelle made that clear right away, “We need to find something heavy.” She tried to think of an alternative, all while Lance eyed her suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. Ugh… “Fine. We’re doing the bookcase.”

“Yes!” The brunette jumped happily, walking out of the room, “Good choice.”

“Don’t act all smug.” The girl frowned, joining him as they made their way out and into the library, “You would have picked me up otherwise.”

“Uh.. no.” He denied, ignoring her in favour of focusing on a single bookcase. It was large but heavy enough with books. Hopefully the dummy had been enough practice to prepare him for this. “Here goes nothing.”

Lance moved his hands, focusing on moving the bookcase up. He tried to be careful and made sure Romelle was far away. The damned thing was heavy but with enough focus, he managed to pick it up. The object hovered above the ground, making Lance smile widely, “I did it! Oh my god! I did it Romelle!”

“I can see it! Wow! Is it heavy?” The girl took a cautious step forward.

“Not really.” Lance noted, looking at the hovering object, “More than anything it’s-”

“Whoa! The bookcase is floating!” A new voice broke his concentration, making the bookcase fall down to the ground. Luckily it didn’t flip, landing just where it was. Although the same couldn’t be said for the books which toppled to the ground. 

Romelle and Lance turned, spotting two of the generals at the door. Zethrid and Ezor stood by each other’s sides with Ezor leaning comfortably against the larger woman, “Are you trying to gain control of your powers? How cute.”

“Umm.” Lance scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. He wasn’t used to people knowing about the biotics, so having an audience, or strangers no less, was strange. He knew these were Lotor’s personal guards, and that they were helping out a lot, but it was still weird.

“Don’t be shy cupcake.” Ezor, the mostly pink but multi-colored haired woman spoke, walking over to pick up a stray book from the floor, “You made a whole bookshelf float, that’s neat.”

“I pick up bookshelves all the time.” The brulier woman spoke gruffly, “Sling it across the yard and _then_ I’ll be impressed.”

“Aw, babe! Don’t be like that!” The pinkish woman scolded lightly, wagging a finger at the taller one. She turned, poking at the bookshelf with the toe of her mechanical legs, “I think it’s kind of neat.”

“It’s just a floating bookcase.” Zethrid grumbled, crossing her arms and practically pouting, “I can move one just as easy.”

“Well, yeah, you’re incredible. But floating bookshelves are neat!” Ezor turns to face the muscular woman, “Besides, Kogane knocked us back pretty dang good when we were chasing him.”

“That brat cheated.” Zethrid groaned, punching her open palm, “If it weren’t for the biotics I could have taken him.”

“That’s like saying that you could _totally_ take a guy stronger than you if only he didn’t have muscles.” Ezor rolled her eyes before returning her attention back to the duo, “Sorry about my girlfriend, she’s just jealous of how impressed I am by all this.”

“Am not!” Her girlfriend protested.

“Are too!” Ezor argued back over her shoulder before turning back on Lance with a grin, “Don’t worry about me though, cupcake, I’m not interested in doing any of that myself. All the chasing around is pretty stupid in my opinion. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kogane just flat out left the city by now.”

Ezor started waving her hands dramatically, “And we all know Zarkon can’t really do anything if you leave the city. You’re out of his control then.”

“Nah, that kid hasn’t bolted yet.” Zethrid spit, cracking her knuckles, “He’s a fighter, I can tell, he ain’t backing out yet. Lotor thinks so too.”

“You just wanna punch him for throwing us into a wall.” Ezor grinned at the woman, “Careful honey, I don’t wanna end up landing in a smelly dumpster again.”

Zethrid scolded before turning on Lance, jabbing a finger at him, “You!”

“Me?” Lance jumped.

“Throw Kogane into a dumpster, the most foul smelling dumpster you can find!” The woman commanded passionately, “Make sure it’s wet and unpleasant too!”

Lance _stared_ at her, “I’d never throw Keith in a dumpster! Are you mad!?”

“He deserves it! And you better do it or else I won’t be satisfied!” The larger woman pressed, folding her arms against her chest, “He deserves it after what he did to us. I had to shower for _hours_ to get rid of the smell.”

“Whoa! Wait! Hold up!” Romelle raised her hands up, getting everyone’s attention, “You met Keith?”

“Yep!” Ezor nodded, “We chased him down after the colosseum blast. He seemed panicked but I can’t blame him for it. The blast came out of nowhere.”

“And do you know where he ran off to?” Lance tried, “Direction? District? Anything?”

“Not really. Like we said, he threw us in a dumpster.” The reminder made Zethrid grumble, “All we know is that he disappeared in a dark alleyway and we never saw him again after that. Beats me where he could have went.”

Lance’s hopes died down, but he didn’t know what he expected in the first place. Keith was fierce, there was no way he would let the two of them track him. It was a good thing but now he wished they knew _something_ at least. Any clues would help.

“But you shouldn’t be worrying about him right now.” Zethrid took a step forward, “Have a look at this.” She pulled up her holoscreen, showing today’s news. Romelle and Lance watched in confusion, until the image of Sendak appeared, introducing him as the new manager of District Six. They both _paled_.

“Oh my god.” Romelle gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth, “He’ll destroy everything Allura worked so hard to build!”

Lance clenched his jaw watching it, “Everything we _all_ worked so hard to build and achieve. Gone just like that.”

“It sucks.” Ezor huffed, “But look at it on the bright side! As long as you’re not caught, you can build everything back up.”

“That’s not going to keep it from being destroyed in the first place!” Lance glared at the holoscreen hatefully, “And it’ll take _years_ to regrow the plants and trees he’ll destroy! And the buildings were all specifically designed to be environmentally friendly! He’s going to ruin it all!”

“Well yeah, and that sucks.” Ezor frowned a bit, fiddling with her bracelet, “But it’s nothing you can’t fix. Sometimes these things happen and we have to accept it. The only thing we can do is fix it when it does.”

“It shouldn’t be happening _at all_.” Romelle cried, pointing at the holoscreen, “It’ll only take a few hours to destroy what the Alteanis’ did for years!”

“That’s life kiddo.” Zethrid shrugged, “Happens all the time. The only thing you can do is step up when it does and clean up the mess dicks like him leave behind.”

Lance frowned, not at _all_ happy with the situation. A part of him wanted to march up to that bastard and smack him, maybe keep him from destroying everything they all worked so hard for, but he knew it was stupid. There wasn’t anything he could do, especially when he was on the run like this. Those guards were right, all he could do was hope that someone would clean up whatever mess that Sendak jerk left behind.

“District Six was the one everyone wanted to live in.” Lance scolded, locking his jaw, “Now he wants to turn it into some cheap copy of District Two and Five.”

“Eh.” Ezor shrugged, “When Lotor takes over and gets rid of Zarkon I’m sure he’ll put Allura back in District Six. Heck, maybe he’ll even make the other Districts work with her regulations. He really, _really_ , likes her plans.”

“He’s an idiot.” Zethrid wrangled an eyebrow, “She could _definitely_ get him to make her regulations a city wide rule. Then there’ll be fucking trees and flowers everywhere.”

“Zethrid!” Ezor moved and covered Romelle’s ears, “There are children present!”

“They’re grown ass adults.” The bigger woman scolded, “I didn’t even say anything. You’re the one making it dirty.”

“They’re in their teens! Look at their little faces!” Ezor cried, “Cupcake doesn’t need to hear this filth!”

“Not my fault the boss has a crush on his boss.” Zethrid argued defensively. “Besides, if they haven’t had the talk by now than I’m going to have to question Allura’s stance on educational skills.”

“I-I’m not a kid!” Lance protested, a tint of red on his cheeks, “What I know and don’t is none of your business! If you treat me like a kid, I swear-”

“Aww! See babe? They’re not used to this kind of talk! Don’t swear like that in front of the kiddos.” Ezor had her hands slapped away by Romelle, looking at them all confusingly.

“What did you say?” She turned to Lance, “Lance?”

“They’re picking on us Romelle is all.” The brunette huffed. 

“Hah! I’d never pick on innocent children! See what you did babe?” Ezor cried teasingly, giggling as she stepped back beside her girlfriend, leaning against her side, “Careful with the children.”

“Whatever.” The taller woman grunted, looking away, “The point is that you can fix the shit Sendak makes. As long as you’re here and away from the government.”

“Babe!” Ezor warned again.

“What!?”

Romelle and Lance both rolled their eyes, deciding to ignore the two generals for the time being. The news was hard to accept but they should have expected it. With Allura gone, someone was bound to take the reins in her absence. The only problem is that it was _Sendak_ , one of the worst people for the job.

“I hope Keith is doing better than us.” Lance sighed in frustration, thoughts drifting to his long lost childhood love. He hadn’t heard from Keith since he’d sent him that one email with the voice recor-Wait a tic! “Romelle! We have to check the emails!” Lance scrambled to open his mailbox but then remembered that they used Coran’s encrypted system to send it. Shoot! They had to find Coran!

The blonde girl caught his train of thoughts, “Oh my god! I completely forgot!” She pulled on her hair, shocked that she would forget something this important.

“We have to find Coran!” Lance felt pure adrenaline course throughout his entire body. He felt so dumb, so, so dumb and stupid. How could he not have checked for an email before!?

“Whoa! Hold your horses!” Ezor stepped in their way before they could go anywhere, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Out of our way! We have to find Coran! Uhhh… He’s the older man with orange hair and a weird moustache. Do you know where he is?” God, Lance’s heart was beating a hundred miles per hour.

“He’s talking with Dayak I think.” Zethrid hummed, rubbing her chin, “They were debating something fierce last I saw them.”

“They’re probably in her study then.” Ezor shrugged nonchalantly before turning to face Lance and Romelle, “Come on kiddos! I’ll take you right to him!”

“We’re not kids.” Lance gave a weak protest before running after her, biting his lip. They exited the room, ending up back in those metal hallways. Ezor hummed an unfamiliar tune as she strolled in front of them, Zethrid taking up the rear. The pinkish woman kept humming as she led to the metal doors for their exit, the beeping indicated that she had the authority to let them out.

It was a long walk down a lot of winding hallways that twisted and turned like they were specifically made to confuse people. It probably felt a lot longer than it actually was though, but Lance wasn’t sure how Ezor remembered which way to go without getting lost. Still, she stopped them at a certain door after a while, muffling sounds coming from the other side, knocking another unfamiliar pattern before it was pulled open by one of the most strict looking old ladies he’s ever seen.

“Ezor.” The old lady greeted, eyes flickering over the group, “Has there been a problem that needs my assistance?”

“Nah.” Ezor jabbed a thumb at Lance and Romelle over her shoulder, “The kiddos are just looking for the orange guy with the moustache; is he with you?”

“He’s here.” The lady scolded opening the door wider, “And he has completely nonsense ideas about art.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m an expert! Abstract paintings are just as valid as expressionism and I’ll not have you insult them like this!”

“You’re a fool who honestly enjoys modern art.” The lady huffed, her fist finding her hips, “And I’ll not sit idle by as you spout such nonsense.”

She stepped out of the doorway, the group crawled through into a really pristine looking office. The doorway they walked through actually looked like a painting that opened into the hallway, a picture of what was probably an infant Lotor in the center, her standing there holding him.

Lance would _love_ to speculate on that later, but right now he had something more important to do, he gunned straight for Coran, grabbing the older man by the shoulders and shaking him, “Coran! Coran we need to check the emails! I need to know if Keith’s okay!”

“Huh?” The older man barely registered what the other was saying due to the rapid shaking of his shoulders, “Whoa! Calm down lad! Email? What-Oh ancients! The email!!”

“ _The_ email!! We didn’t check anything!” Romelle yelled, pulling on her hair some more. The panic seemed to be infections because now all three of them were out of themselves.

“Any idea what they’re talking about?” Ezor asked her girlfriend curiously, completely out of the loop.

“No idea. Probably a way they kept in contact with that brat Kogane.” The larger woman huffed, although she was curious.

Coran quickly opened his holoscreen, going straight to his emails. As soon as he opened the application, he noticed that he had not one, not two, not three, but four new unread emails! “We have four new emails!”

“Four?” Romelle and Lance leaned in closer to have a look. All four of them were from an unknown sender which meant that they _had_ to be from Keith. Lance felt his blood turn to ice as soon as he saw them. The last time Keith sent him a message, he said he was going somewhere dangerous and he knows where that is; the underground.

Oh god… Four emails weren’t a good sign at all.

“Open the first one.” Lance urged, his voice a bit shaky as he spoke. Coran did, opening the first email they received. It contained nothing but an audio file and as they listened to it, Lance felt himself freeze completely.

The person speaking identified themselves as Katie Holt, the daughter of Uncle Sam as well as Keith’s friend. She proceeded to explain their situation and that they all left the underground but that Keith was missing. She said that his kidnappers will mostly establish contact with Lance, requesting that they meet up and join forces.

But no matter what she said, Lance was gone the moment she told them that Keith had gone missing in the _underground_ of all places.

“This was sent as a reply to our email. Looks like our message of meeting up on Blue Street went unheard.” Coran noted sadly, “It’s probable that they didn’t open our email until after getting out of the underground.”

Romelle clenched her hands, going over to Lance to comfort him. If only they would have seen their email, they could have already arranged a day and time to meet… “What is in the second email?” She asked, hoping it was better news.

Coran proceeded to open it, the two generals and the old lady listening in as well. The second email wasn’t an audio file or a video but rather a text. The group proceeded to read it, but it didn’t give them any form of relief.

The email was very short, only saying that their group made it to the safehouse without Keith and that they should contact them as soon as possible.

None of them said anything to that, worry overwhelming them all. Coran didn’t need to be told to check the third email they got, opening it so they could all read it.

The third email was composed of only text as well. However, unlike the previous two, it was good news. The girl, Katie, wrote that they know who took Keith and that they organised for their group to meet them and take them to Keith. She didn’t write anything else as to where Keith might be or the specifics of their meeting, only saying that they should contact her as soon as possible.

“They found him?” Lance muttered, eyes glued onto the screen, “They know where he is but they’re not with him yet. Keith is still somewhere in the underground. He… he…”

“Shhh… It’s okay. Keith is tough.” Romelle rubbed his back in assurance, “At least we know he’s safe and the kidnappers contacted them. If they meant harm, then I doubt they would try to contact this Katie Holt.”

“Romelle is right. We can’t give up just yet.” Coran joined her by placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “He wasn’t captured by the government. We know that much.”

“But how accurate is this information of yours?” Ezor asked curiously, “The way I see it, nothing is certain.”

“You’re not helping.” Romelle shot with narrowed eyes, returning her attention onto Lance. With three emails opened, they had only one remaining.

Coran opened the said email, noting something unusual. He quirked a brow in confusion, “This email is from a different sender. It’s not from Katie Holt.”

“What?” Romelle asked curiously, Lance looking up as well, “What do you mean?”

“The coding used to hide the sender is different.” Coran noted, looking over the almost empty email. It was bare apart from a single video file that was attached to it. The title of the video was ‘The Blades’, immediately sending alarm bells to everyone in the room, “I-I think it’s from the group that kidnapped Keith. They really contacted us.”

“What?” Lance practically threw himself at the holoscreen, staring holes at the single file, “Play it Coran. Play it _right now_.”

“Lance, calm down. Maybe we-”

“We’re watching this Romelle.” He was having none of it, “I need to know what they’ll say.”

The blonde girl hesitated, looking over at Coran for help. The older man closed his eyes, understanding that it was inevitable for them to watch it. He could only hope the email had good news within it.

He clicked it, opening the file.

A video popped up, and there was Keith in all his glory. He was pale, his inky black hair matted to his forehead. The camera zoomed in on him, showing him on a bed with bandages wrapped tightly around his shoulder, plush animals surrounding him for some reason. Beside him was that Sven guy from the black market, his hand resting against Keith’s body. 

Keith was awake, but it didn’t look like he could move. His lips moved, and his eyes blinked, but he didn’t move beyond that, barely even inclining his head. He just laid there, obviously in pain from whatever had happened to him before all this, possibly wounded during his kidnapping. Lance’s breath caught, and he suddenly found himself unable to move.

“Wait!” Romelle yelled, pointing dramatically towards the video, “I know him! He was that guy with the mean Slav from the black market! The one that took the fall for Lance!”

“Everyone knew he was lying.” Ezor spoke, catching her chin in her hand and leaning over to study the image critically, “How did he get out?”

“Forget how he got out! How’d he get the brat?” Zethrid replied angrily, stomping over towards the screen, “Where is that?”

“So the group with Slav is the same group that took young Keith then?” Coran hummed, eyeing the screen, “But who…”

“Oh dear.” It was Dayak who interrupted them all, walking up and snapping her heels as she eyed the uniform Sven was wearing with heavy disapproval, “Is Marmora and his lot still at it?”

“Marmora? Who the hell is Marmora?” Zethrid turned on her, “You know these idiots?”

“Language.” Dayak whacked Zethrid with a ruler, making the woman grumble and back away, the stern woman turned towards the screen, clicking her tongue, “I only knew Marmora by reputation, but he was an underground rebel.”

“That name _does_ sound familiar.” Coran frowned, nodding thoughtfully.

“I’ve never heard of him.” Zethrid scoffed.

“That’s because any rebel good at their job isn’t going to be heard of dear.” Dayak scolded, “It was impossible to catch him back in my bounty hunting days. I never did find him. Seems he took up students.” 

“I _swear_ that name sounds familiar.” Coran insisted, “Didn’t Blaytz...no...couldn’t be...he was such a sweet lad.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Ezor waved in, pointing towards the screen, “They’ve got pretty boy! And it looks like he’s been _shot_.”

“Don’t say that.” Lance whispered, “Don’t say it.” Because he didn’t want it to be true.

The group was startled when a figure suddenly appeared on screen, facing the camera head on. It was as if Keith and Sven were in another room and there was a window connecting their room with another in which the person facing them right now was.

The person was a tall man, muscular in built with a white ponytail. He stood tall with a neutral expression as he spoke, “Greetings Lance. You’ve crossed paths with us before but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to meet properly. I’d like to change that so I’ve contacted you to propose a meeting. Meet us on Sharp Avenue on Monday at midnight. After we meet, we’ll take you to Keith.”

“I don’t like this.” Romelle muttered before she was shushed by Coran.

“We’re not your enemy but rather an ally. Our aim is to right the wrong and protect both you and Keith from Zarkon’s hands. If you join us, we’ll stand a chance of overthrowing Zarkon by exposing the truth.” The man paused again, “We’ll be waiting for you at the designated time and date. Don’t be late.” The video cut from the man back to Keith, showing a little bit of the boy before the screen turned black.

“The email was sent yesterday.” Coran noted, “Which means that the meeting is tomorrow night.”

Zethrid and Ezor looked at one another, sending silent messages between them, “Lotor would love to hear about this.”

“It’s tomorrow…” Romelle mumbled, “What do we do?”

“We have to tell Allura about this.” Coran said, “It’s our only chance of finding Keith’s location at this moment.”

“How do they know your email address?” Ezor asked, “They must have skilled people working for them.”

“Of course they do!” Romelle waved a hand at the screen, turning to face the others, “They found him when the _government_ couldn’t! They hunted Keith down in the _underground_.”

“So dangerous hackers with really good hunting skills.” Zethrid cracked her neck, “And a lot of plans it looks like. Thunderstorm Darkness looked pretty incapacitated there.”

“He wasn’t fighting back though.” Lance stated, his eyes locked onto where the image of Keith once played, as if he could summon the boy back if he stared long enough, “I know Keith, a gunshot wouldn’t matter, he would fight back.”

“He could very well be drugged.” Dayak suggested, slapping her ruler against her open palm, “That was once one of my own specialties.” 

“Nah, I got a good look at him in the video. He didn’t look out of it.” Ezor shrugged, “That and they gave him a lot of really cute plushies. What kind of evil kidnappers do that? They could have saved him from whoever napped him in the underground.”

“Or that could have been placed there to throw us off.” Coran hummed again.

“Nevertheless, it is imperative that you inform Lotor and Ms. Alteanis at once.” Dayak slapped her hand with a ruler again, “Regardless of any meeting times you cannot leave the premises without their knowledge.”

“Will either or them risk this though?” Ezor raised an eyebrow, “We don’t know where he is, and this is risky. I know Lotor really wanted to find Keith too, but even if I’m thinking these guys might be friendly that doesn’t mean Lotor and Allura are going to.”

“He’ll probably want to send us with Acxa and Narti to scope the place and see if it’s a trap.” Zethrid put in, “He’s one of those schemy, planning, types.”

“Debating about it does nothing.” Dayak snapped, walking over towards her desk and pressing her fingers against a very professional looking holoscreen projector, “Lotor, answer me! I have news regarding the whereabouts of the missing biotic.”

Lotor’s face popped up immediately. He looked off, a bit more stressed than normal, but it was pretty hard to tell at first, beside him stood the other two guards, Narti and Acxa. He spoke, voice deceptively even, “What news have you gathered and how did you get it?”

“The boy has been kidnapped.” Dayak slapped that ruler again, “Seems there’s a fourth party in this game, and they’ve played their hand. They have Kogane and wish to form an alliance with us. They’ve already contacted Mr. Smythe to set up a meeting.”

Lotor looked surprised for a moment, “That is certainly unexpected.”

“As your governess and advisor I would recommend you bring Ms. Alteanis into this call so that we may discuss further plans.” Dayak snapped that ruler again, and Lance winced at the sound it made. He was starting to fear that little ruler.

“Very well.” Lotor agreed, looking up at Acxa before nodding. The general went over to fetch Allura who was sitting in another room, trying to figure out which of her people were labeled as traitors and which were not. It didn’t take long for her head to appear next to Lotor, settling on a chair Narti placed next to her boss.

“Coran? Lance? Romelle? Did something happen?” She asked in concern, looking at them worriedly.

“Allura it’s Keith.” Lance looked at her with pleading eyes, “We got an email from his kidnappers. They want to meet us and they want me to join them and-”

“What?” The woman was confused, “Keith was kidnapped?”

“Let’s backrack for a second.” Romelle placed her hands on Lance’s arms, “We got four emails, three from Keith that we forgot to check. They said that Keith disappeared while they were in the underground but then another email from the same person, Katie Holt, said that they were contacted by his kidnappers, arranging a meeting. The fourth email we got, however, wasn’t from Katie but rather Keith’s kidnappers. Apart from contacting Katie, they also contacted us. They have Keith, and we know this because we’ve seen him on video in what looked like to be their base. They want to meet us so that we can join forces against Zarkon.”

“And this is all credible information?” Lotor asked, sceptical of the information at hand.

“I can confirm it is.” Coran answered this time, “The email from Katie Holt fits the timeline of these emails as well as the one we’ve received from these Blades. Ah! They’re the group that kidnapped Keith by the way! Considering that Keith was kidnapped while they were underground, and then the emails, I’d say that all of this is accurate.”

“But how did they know he was there?” Allura looked as worried as ever, “Who are they?”

“I think I can answer that.” Dayak chirped in, “Back when I used to be a bounty hunter, there was a young lad I was assigned as a target. His name was Marmora and he was one of the best rebels known at the time. A few heard of him but among us bounty hunters he was very popular. If I had to say, I think he took on students and formed his own group called ‘The Blade of Marmora’. There were rumours about them back then but I’d always remembered their name. It stood out because young Marmora loved using a blade as his main weapon back in the day.”

“And now this organisation has grown.” Lotor leaned his hand against his chin, “It’s fair to say that they would know their way around the underground if they managed to kidnap the biotic in darkness.” His eyes dangerously narrowed, “If we were to find ourselves in those tunnels, I have no doubt that we’d suffer the same fate.”

“It gives me chills just thinking about them.” Ezor shivered, holding onto her girlfriend for warmth. Large arms wrapped around her, providing the protection she needed.

“We have to get to Keith.” Lance said, looking up at Allura and Lotor, “This is our chance to get him.”

“Lance… We need to think this through. We’re wanted now.” Allura was unsure, clenching her hand under the table and out of view of the screen, “We can’t venture outside without a plan.”

“It would be best if you didn’t leave the house for at least two weeks.” Lotor turned to her, “But as I said before, if it’s urgent then we have no other choice.” The president’s son leaned his upper body forward, resting his chin against his folded hands, “We have to use the opportunity presented to us. We’ll accept their little invitation.”

Allura turned to him immediately, “I’m not risking Lance going there. If he does, then he’d be dragged underground into the dark.”

“I agree. It would be a big risk for us to take, especially if the Blades are not going to bring the biotic to this meeting.” If they won’t bring their biotic, then we won’t either, “We’ll form a team that will go in without Lance. Once we meet these Blades, we’ll arrange for a more favourable meeting in which Keith will be present as well.”

“That’s a great plan and all boss, really it is, but there’s a problem.” Ezor scratched her cheek, “Kogane looks like he got shot. He was in a medical bed and everything. And, well, you know gunshot wounds…”

Lotor frowned very heavily at that, raising a brow, “Did _they_ shoot him?”

“Who knows.” Ezor shrugged, “But I know bullet wounds when I see them. He got shot in the shoulder, he can barely move.”

“Then we won’t have a meeting outside their base.” Lotor’s frown deepens. He’s unhappy, clearly hates this plan as much as Allura seems to, but he’s also trying to keep up with the opportunity, “That means whoever we send to meet with them will have to travel to their base, possibly through the underground.”

“Not it.” Ezor calls, “So, so, sooooo not it. I’m sorry, but that place is creepy as fuck and these Blade guys are even creepier.”

“Children these days.” Dayak scoffs, slapping that ruler again, “No backbone. I’ll go. I’ve always wanted to catch Marmora. With luck he’ll be alive.”

“We’re not trying to catch him Dayak.” Lotor sighs, rubbing his forehead, “These are potential allies.” But Lotor pauses, his eyes snapping open, “However, your foreknowledge would be useful, you may go.”

“I will not fail you.” The woman snapped to attention.

Lotor nodded before looking over at Acxa and Narti, “Narti, the unseen places are your element. Would you like to go?”

The woman nodded mutely.

“I will go as well.” Acxa nodded, “I’ll assess if the base is pregnable and whether the biotic is truly safe within their hands.”

Lotor nodded before turning to face the screen, “What about yours Allura? Aside from Lance, is there anyone else you will risk sending?”

Allura didn’t answer immediately but thought over her choices. Her blue eyes drifted to Coran whom she had known for years. However, even if she knew that Coran was a capable man, he wasn’t suitable for a mission like this. He was a no go.

Romelle was a better candidate but with the way she looked back at her, Allura knew that Romelle wouldn’t like to go to the underground at all. And even though Lance wanted to go, he couldn’t.

This left her with only one choice.

“I’ll go myself.” She decided.

“What?” Lotor was taken aback, admittedly surprised by her choice, “That’s not a good idea Allura. You getting captured will harm us in the future. I can’t risk you going and getting kidnapped by these Blades. They could use you as leverage to get to Lance.” Lotor leaned in closer to her so that the others wouldn’t hear him, “And you know I won’t be able to control him if he decides to go and save you. I have adjusted rooms to withstand biotic powers but they’re only set to the limits that are within my knowledge. If he is determined enough, he can destroy the entire mansion to get out.”

Allura wanted to say that Lance wouldn’t do something like that but… yeah… Lance _would_ do something like that. She took Lotor’s hand under the table, squeezing tightly, “They won’t get me. I know that none of my team has to go but I’d like to. The Blades have information we’re missing and what better way to obtain it other than going to meet them myself? I know what I’m doing Lotor.”

“I don’t think you do.” Lotor squeezed back, “I don’t want to lose you Allura.”

“You won’t.” She smiled softly, “They’re not enough to take someone like me.”

“Oh god… Here we go again.” Ezor and Zethrid both rolled their eyes, Narti and Acxa doing the same on the other side of the screen. They were familiar with the unofficial couple’s romantic ways and honestly, it surprised them that neither Lotor or Allura decided to take this a step further just yet. Maybe their boss wasn’t an expert in love?

“Once we uncover their base and see that Keith is really there we’ll retreat.” Allura cleared her throat with a slight blush, facing the others again, “We won’t be taking risks. Our actions will also depend on how our meeting will go. If they agree to another meeting, then we may only focus on finding their base.”

“Ehhmmm… They probably won’t be moving Kogane anywhere. You know, since he can’t move.” Ezor decided to point that out again just in case.

“There are ways with which they’ll be able to bring him to the meeting. Wheelchairs or even carrying him will do.” Lotor supplied, “It’ll all depend on how our first meeting goes.”

“Ah! Before I forget! Apparently Katie Holt and her group is also meeting up with the Blades.” Coran remembered that from one of her emails, “So the Blades will meet with her and then us.”

“Or both.” Dayak pointed out, “Meet us all at once, judge our worth, show off their own power, lead us down there, and intimidate us into an alliance.”

“Good word woman, do you really think we’re so unskilled that a few ruffians will be able to dismantle such a group so easily?” Coran protested, “That Shirogane chap doesn’t look like a pushover.” 

“The underground is dark, hundreds of miles long, full of criminals, and the tunnels are winding and meant to be confusing.” Dayak snaps her ruler against her palm once again, “Even with night vision we will be at a significant disadvantage.”

“They’ve also got master hackers.” Romelle pointed out, poking the air in front of her, “I just want to remind everyone of that.”

“We’ll have to be _very_ careful then.” Lotor remained firm, “You’ll all have to try and remember _every_ nook and cranny. Try and remember what turns you take and how many steps are between them.”

“You’re assuming they’re not going to be super rough boss.” Ezor shrugged, “Or that these guys aren’t going to lead them around in circles to throw them off.”

“She’s right.” Acxa spoke, “These are professionals that possibly kidnapped Kogane right from his company. They’re going to predict our methods.”

“Then we can only hope to approach this diplomatically.” Allura spoke, frowning as she squared her shoulders, “Perhaps we should worry less about trying to break Keith away from them and focus more on their potential as allies. They are clearly very skilled, and _if_ they bother to bring us to Keith then their intentions prove true.”

“I don’t like how risky this all is.” Coran twirled his moustache, frowning heavily, “Allura, are you sure you want to go?”

“Of course.” Allura nods firmly.

“Perhaps her diplomatic skills will be of use.” Dayak put in, “If we do wish to pursue an alliance than all the better someone with charisma goes.”

“And there is nobody better for this job than Allura.” Lotor smiled at her, squeezing her hand, “It seems that we’re settled then. Tomorrow we’ll have more time to go over the plan once again. Until then, we should rest.”

“Good idea.” Romelle agreed, stretching her arms up, “We need to prepare both mentally and physically for this.”

“It’s not like you’re going young lady.” Coran reminded her, earning a scowl from her.

“Doesn’t matter. It’ll be emotionally draining on the rest of us all the same.”

And Romelle was right because Lance already felt more than drained. It was surprising how much he managed to learn in just a span of about fifteen minutes. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t check the emails earlier. If he did, then he would have responded to the emails a lot faster.

“We should reply to Katie Holt.” He spoke, looking up at everyone, “And let them know that the Blades are meeting with us as well.” Depending on her reply, they could unite and meet before their arranged meeting with the Blades. Having the Holts on their side during all this would be a good idea.

Either way, tomorrow will be an eventful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Sometimes in life we make mistakes. I've made a lot of them just today, but I'm trying to be better. Tea helps. Dogs do too.
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: Hi guys! Hope u like the new chap <3
> 
> Tumblr:  
> McBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


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